Iowa  and  Abraham  Lincoln 


Being  Some  Account  of  the  Presidential  Discussion 
and  Party  Preliminaries  in  Iowa 


1856-1860 


By  F.  I.  HERRIOTT 

Professor  Economics  and  Political  Science 
Drake  University 


DES  MOINES,  IOWA 
1911 


#♦♦ 


Truly  yours, 

i? . I.Herriott 
1^       '  f  -  ^^ 


INFLUENTIAL  REPUBLICAN  EDITORS  OF  IOWA  18.-)(j-1860 


JAMES  B.  HOWELL* 
The  Gate  City,  Keokuk 


JOHN    EDWARDS* 
The    Patriot,  Chariton 


WM     W.  JUNKIN* 
The  Ledger,  Fairfield 


FRANK  W.   PALMER* 
The  Times,  Dubuque 


JOHN  TEESDALE* 
Iowa  State  Register, 
iBes  Moines 

THOMAS  DRUMMOND* 
The  Eagle,  Vinton 


ADDISON  H.   SANDERS 
Daily  Gazette,  Daven- 
port 

JACOB  RICH 
The    Guardian,  Independ- 
ence 


*  Deceased. 


CLARK  DUNHAM* 
The  Hawk-E  ye  ,  Burlington 


A.  B.  F.  HILDRETH* 

The  Intelligencer,  St. 

Charles 

JOHN  MAHIN 
The  Journal,  Muscatine 


CHARLES  ALDRICH* 

The  Hamilton  Freeman, 

Webster  City 


IOWA  AND  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 


Being   Some    Account   of    the    Presidential 
Discussion  and  Party  Preliminaries  in  Iowa 


1856-1860 


By  F.  I.  HERRIOTT 

Professor  Economics  and  Political  Science 
Drake  University 


I  Reprinted  with  Some  Additions  from  The  Annals  of  Iowa] 


vM' 


C4H43xL 


CONTENTS 

Page 

Introduction 1 

Discussion  Foreshadowed  in  1855-185(> 4 

Iowa's  Politicians  and  'Sir.  Lincoln  in  185(5 6 

First  Expressions — lH5(MSo7 8 

Coalition  of  the  Opposition  Discouraged 14 

The  Lincoln- Douglas  Debates 17 

The  Debates  and  the  Presidential  Succession 28 

II 

Expressions  and  Maneuvers  in  1859 ;^7 

Imiwrtant  Conditions  Determining  Expressions 38 

First  Exi:)ressions  Respecting  Party  Principles  and  Candidates 41 

The  Reception  of  Greeley's  Suggestion  for  a  Coalition  of   the 

Opposition 50 

Expressions  July- December 57 

(a)  Ethics,  Law  and  Fugitive  Slaves 58 

(b)  An  Appeal  to  Local  Pride  Re.iected 61 

(c)  Pre-Election  Expressions — and  Judge  Bates 62 

(d)  Mr.  Teesdale"s  Review  of  the  Situation 6(i 

(e)  Mention  of  Candidates  Incivases  in  Decembei- 68 

(f)  Public  Consideration  of  Mr.  Lincoln  for  the  Presidency...  72 

(g)  Summary  of  Party  Oi>inion  in  1859 77 

Efforts  of  Candidates  or  their  Promoters  in  Iowa 78 

(a)  Judge  McLean  Visits  Iowa '   80 

(b)  Friends  of  Chase  and  Camei'on  Active 82 

(c)  Edward  Bates  and  the  Sources  of  his  Strength 84 

(d)  Seward  and  the  Silence  of  his  Friends 86 

(e)  Abraham  Lincoln's  Relations  with  Iowa  and  lowans 88 

III 

Republican  Presidential  Preliminaries  in  Iowa — 1859-1860 101 

The  Selection  of  Delegates  Proposed 102 

The  Choice  of  the  Convention  City  and  its  Signiticance 105 

Call  for  the  Special  State  Convention  110 

The  First  Party  Decision  in  1860 116 

(a)  Contrary  Considei'ations  Affecting  Party  Interests 116 

(b)  Sundry  Editorial  Expressions 125 

(c)  Some  of  the  County  Prelimaries 134 

(d)  Senator  Harlan's  Confidential  Advices 139 

The  Republican  State  Convention — Des  Moines,  January  18,  1860.  144 

(a)  The  Preliminaries  of  Organization 144 

(b)  The  Character  of  the  County  Delegations 149 

(c)  Selecting  the  Delegates  to  the  National  Convention 159 

(d)  Did  a  ^lachine  and  Wirepullers  or  Common  Sense  Control 

the  Convention 167 

(e)  The  Delegation  to  the  National  Convention 172 

(f)  Contemporary  Comment  on  the  Conclusions  of  the  Con- 
vention   180 


IOWA  AND  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

1856-1860 


The  Republican  Preliminaries  of  the  Presidential  Campaign 

of  1860 


Consistency  in  conduct  or  continuity  and  substance  in 
opinion  are  not  virtues  ordinarily  accredited  to  politicians. 
Alike  in  academic  discussion  and  in  common  parlance  poli- 
ticians are  contemptuously  described  as  mere  weathervanes 
or  flotsam  that  turns  or  tosses  with  the  fitful  currents  of 
popular  prejudice.  Whether  politicians  are  such  or  not  they 
nevertheless  indicate  somewhat  of  the  activity,  direction,  and 
intensity  of  the  forces  that  rule.  Moreover,  if  one  studies 
more  than  the  eddies  and  swirls  of  politics  he  must  soon  dis- 
cover that  the  changeableness  and  contradiction  that  aggravate 
and  confuse  the  casual  onlooker  are  merely  the  surface  phe- 
nomena of  greater  and  deeper  currents  of  powerful  human 
interests  that  are  always  running  heavily  beneath  the  waves 
and  white  caps. 

In  practical  politics,  as  in  the  physical  world  at  large,  action 
and  reaction  are  equivalent.  Political  opinion  that  is  efficient 
— that  controls  government,  determining  legislation  and  ad- 
ministration-— is  a  reflex  and  resultant.  Political  chiefs,  who 
are  leadei's,  at  once  lead  and  are  led.  They  dominate  only  as 
they  are  dominated  by  the  major  influences  of  their  domicile 
and  province.  They  are  influential  and  successful  in  so  far 
as  they  receive,  express  and  direct  the  common  opinion  of  their 
clans  or  section  and  co-ordinate  it  with  the  decisive  opinion 
of  other  chiefs  of  other  regions  within  the  circuit  of  the  fran- 
chise. The  masterful  leader  is  he  who  first  clearly  discerns 
the  fact  that  underlies  and  overtops  all  others  in  public  in- 
terest, who  cleaves  to  it,  avoids  or  eliminates  irrelevant  and 
contrary  considerations  and  by  lucid  and  persuasive  speech 
coerces  many  minds  into  common  opinion  or  by  strategy  and 


2  IOWA  AND   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN 

tactics  unifies  miscellaneous  elements  into  a  compact  forward 
moving-  force  against  a  common  opposition. 

In  the  national  republican  convention  that  nominated  Abra- 
ham Lincoln  for  the  presidency  in  1860  the  votes  of  the  dele- 
gates from  Iowa  on  the  first  ballot  were  widely  distributed. 
They  were  cast  for  six  different  candidates — Edw.  Bates  of 
IMissouri,  Salmon  P.  Chase  and  John  McLean  of  Ohio,  Simon 
Cameron  of  Pennsylvania.  Abraham  Lincoln  of  Illinois,  and 
Wm.  H.  Seward  of  New  York.  On  the  third  and  decisive 
ballot  Iowa's  delegates  continued  to  be  divided,  voting  for 
Chase.  Lincoln  and  Seward.^  The  division  of  sentiment  among 
the  lowaus  Avas  notable  for  no  other  northern  or  Free  state 
had  its  quota  of  votes  so  badly  "split  up."  One  southern  or 
Slave  state,  Kentucky  in  a  similar  fashion  scattered  its  vote 
among  as  many  candidates.  Such  division  indicated  one  or 
the  other  of  several  facts — either  strong  stubborn  personal 
preferences  among  the  delegates  for  the  various  candidates,  or 
huckstering  and  trading  Avith  a  view  to  subsequent  personal 
or  party  advantage  for  the  lowans ;  or  the  various  votes  re- 
flected antecedent  contradictory  conditions  in  the  cities  and 
tOAMis,  in  the  townships  and  counties  of  the  sections  of  the 
state  whence  the  delegates  from  Iowa  hailed — conditions  which 
they  represented. 

In  another  place  the  writer  has  described  at  some  length 
the  various  complexes  of  local  conditions  and  forces  between 
1856  and  1860  that  made  uncertain  the  political  course  of 
Towa  on  the  eve  of  the  presidential  campaign  of  I860.-  The 
majorities  by  which  the  Republicans  held  possession  of  the 
state  were  meagre.  The  contentiousness  of  the  Abolitionists, 
the  "Americans,"  the  Germans,  and  the  Prohibitionists  or 
"Teetotalers"  was  irrepressible.  Moreover,  the  constant 
and  increasing  attacks  upon  the  property  rights  of  the  slave- 
holders, the  shock  of  John  Brown 's  raid  upon  Harpers  Ferry, 
had  not  only  aroused  the  belligerency  of  the  Negrophobists 
among  the  numerous  Southerners  in  the  Republican  ranks  in 


^See  Proceedings  of  the  First  Three  Republican  National  Conventions — 
published  by   Chas.   W.   Johnson,  pp.    149.   153. 

2See  A7inals  of  Iowa  (3d  Series),  Vol.  VIII,  189-220:  same  reprinted 
with  additions  under  title  of  "loioa  and  the  First  Nomination  of  Abraham 
Lincoln,"  pp.    3  8-80. 


THE  REPUBLICAN  PRELIMINARIES  OF  1860  3 

loM'a  but  had  increased  the  timidity  of  the  commercial  classes, 
then  slowly  recovering  from  the  industrial  depression  follow- 
ing in  the  Avake  of  the  financial  disasters  of  1857.  The  Re- 
publican party's  supremacy  was  maintained  on  a  narrow  mar- 
gin that  required  the  hardest  and  most  systematic  work  to  se- 
cure. Such  conditions  at  home  afford  us  what  the  logicians 
call  the  "efficient"  causes  of  the  obstinate  differences  in  the 
preferences  and  actions  of  Iowa's  delegates  in  the  momentous 
decision  at  Chicago,  May  18,  1860. 

In  what  follows  there  will  be  traced  the  growth  of  opinion 
among  the  Republicans  of  the  state  respecting  the  Presiden- 
tion  nomination  in  1860  in  the  preceding  quadrennium  so  far 
as  it  may  now  be  ascertained  from  the  expressions  of  party 
leaders  and  party  organs.  Our  examination  will  enable  us  to 
determine,  in  some  part  at  least,  whether  the  lack  of  harmony 
among  the  delegates  from  Iowa  on  the  floor  of  the  convention 
at  Chicago  reproduced  actual  differences  of  opinion  among 
their  partisan  associates  at  home.  Further,  we  may  discover 
whether  the  conditions  in  Iowa  and  the  conduct  of  the  state's 
representatives  differed  materially  from  the  character  of  the 
conditions  and  the  course  of  opinion  and  party  action  in  what 
was  then  called  "the  battle  ground"  states — namely,  Illinois, 
Indiana.  Pennsylvania,  and  New  Jersey — whose  delegates  with 
preeminent  wisdom  by  concert  of  action  at  the  critical  junc- 
ture decided  the  result  at  Chicago.  Finally,  such  a  review  of 
the  expressions  of  local  partizan  desires  and  preferances  may 
enable  us  to  determine  whether  the  currents  of  opinion  in 
Iowa  which  converged  and  culminated  in  that  epoch-making 
decision  were  erratic  and  incoherent  or  clearcut,  consistent 
and  consolidated ;  whether  personal  preferences  as  to  candi- 
dates or  policies  and  principles  were  predominant  in  the  party 
discussions  and  councils ;  Avhether  the  demands  of  the  radicals 
were  conceded  or  the  consensus  of  the  conservatives  deter- 
mined the  result;  whether  Greeley's  prediction,  in  February, 
1860  that,  "as  it  is  in  Iowa,  so  it  will  be  elsewhere,"  was 
realized  in  May. 


4  IOWA  AND  ABRAHAM   LINCOLN 

1.     Discussion  Foreshadowed  in  1855-1856. 

The  nature  of  party  opinion  among  the  Republican  leaders 
of  Iowa,  its  consistency  and  continuity  throughout  the  entire 
preliminaries  of  the  National  Convention  of  1860  will  be  bet- 
.ter  appreciated  if  we  view  it  in  the  light  of  expressions  of 
Governor  Grimes  and  Senator  Harlan  in  1855-1856  anent  some 
of  the  candidates  mentioned  for  the  nomination  of  the  oppo- 
sition or  Republican  party  in  1856. 

Writing  Senator  Chase  of  Ohio  in  April  1855  Governor 
Grimes  declared  that  "a  very  large  part  of  the  friends  of 
freedom  in  Iowa  would  be  glad  to  see  you  a  candidate  for  the 
presidency.  I  am  one  of  the  number."  He  then  adds:  "I 
think  there  is  too  much  asperity  of  feeling  throughout  the 
country  to  justify  us  in  placing  ]\rr.  Seward  forward  as  the 
Republican  candidate,  and,  to  confess  the  truth,  I  must  say 
that  I  have  a  horror  of  New  York  politicians."^  There  is 
reason  to  think  that  if  Governor  Grimes  could  have  decided 
the  nomination  on  May  18,  1860  according  to  his  personal  pref- 
erences he  would  have  east  his  vote  for  Chase ;  but  he  was  a 
statesman  who  knew  well  that  personal  inclinations  and  preju- 
dices are  not  the  decisive  factors  in  politics.- 

Mr.  Wm.  Penn  Clarke,  chairman  of  Iowa's  delegation  to 
Chicago  in  1860,  was  a  delegate  to  the  first  National  Conven- 
tion in  Philadelphia  in  1856.  Then,  as  later,  he  sought  for 
his  guidance  the  opinions  of  his  party  associates  as  to  the 
strongest  man  for  the  nomination.  Governor  Grimes  wrote 
him  (April  3)  :  "In  regard  to  the  November  Election  I  am 
full  of  hope  provided  an  entirely  new  man  is  nominated.  I 
prefer  Fremont  to  any  other  man  named  for  this  reason.  We 
can  not  elect  Mr.  Seward  or  any  other  old  politician  against 
whom  there  are  old  chronic  prejudices  which  you  know  are 
hard  to  be  conquered.  To  build  up  and  consolidate  a  new 
party  we  must  have  men  who  have  not  been  before  the  people 
as  politicians."^ 

iSalter's  Life  of  Jas.   W.   Grimes,  pp.    68-69. 

^Letters  (MSS.)  of  Dr.  Wm.  Salter  and  Mr.  W.  T\^  Baldwin  of  Burling- 
ton to  the  writer. 

»The  citation  above  (and  other  subsequently  given,  when  not  other- 
wise specified),  is  taken  from  MSS: — Correspondence  and  Memoranda 
in  the  Aldrich  Collections  in  tlie  Historical  Department  at  Des  Moines. 


THE  REPUBLICAN  PRELIMINARIES  OF  1860  5 

Mr.  Clarke  evidently  inclined  strongly  to  favor  the  nomi- 
nation of  X.  P.  Banks  of  Massachusetts,  doubtless  because  of 
their  "Americanistie"  affiliations,  for  he  asked  Senator  Har- 
lan to  soimd  the  Speaker  of  the  House  and  canvass  his  chances. 
In  his  reply  written  from  Washington  (April  21)  Senator 
Harlan,  after  relating  the  results  of  his  interview  with  Banks 
says:  "But,  Clarke,  on  the  square  will  not  the  Iowa  delega- 
tion go  its  death  for  Seward?  I  notice  that  Warren  and 
Springer  are  among  the  delegates.  Seward  is  a  great  man. 
One  of  the  greatest  the  country  has  produced.  The  more  I 
see  of  him  the  more  firmly  the  conviction  is  riveted.  But  I 
am  not  certain  that  he  is  the  strongest  man.  His  hostility  to 
the  Americans,  expressed  so  strongly  hitherto,  would  weaken 
him. ' '  He  then  says  of  Judge  McLean :  "If  he  could  be  in- 
duced to  take  strong  grounds  fairly  with  us  he  could  be 
elected;"  and  concludes  with  favorable  mention  of  Colonel 
Fremont  but  doubts  his  chances  of  receiving  the  nomination. 

The  attitudes  of  the  two  leaders  in  1856  remained  constant 
throughout  the  succeeding  four  years.  There  are  some  sig- 
nificant facts  to  be  noted  in  their  expressions  and  kept  in  mind 
as  we  canvass  succeeding  developments.  One  leader  regarded 
the  selection  of  a  Presidential  candidate  as  a  matter  subject 
wholly  to  the  superior  exigencies  of  the  political  situation 
confronting  the  party  on  the  eve  of  the  campaign ;  the  am- 
bitions of  party  chiefs  and  the  claims  of  personal  friendships 
were  considerations  subordinate  to  the  paramount  necessity 
of  Success  for  the  Cause  they  would  advance.  The  other 
leader,  no  less  desirous  of  success,  believed  that  the  most 
conspicuous  champion  of  the  party  should  be  nominated,  even 
though  sundry  prudential  reasons  might  suggest  the  elevation 
of  some  one  of  others  less  likely  to  arouse  opposition ;  being 
impelled  thereto  by  admiration  of  that  champion's  abilities 
and  career  and  by  staunch  friendship  growing  out  of  close 
official  associations.  Further  the  dread  of  New  York's  poli- 
ticians and  fear  that  Mr.  Seward's  well  kno^vn  opposition  to 
the  Know-Nothing  or  American  propaganda  would  put  party 
success  in  jeopardy  were  potent  considerations  in  1856 ;  and 
they  were  decisive  in  the  formation  of  party  opinion  in  1860 


6  IOWA  AND   ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

2.     Iowa's  Politicians  and  Mr.  Lincoln  in  1856. 

Two  facts  may  here  be  noted.  They  may  seem  somewhat 
contradictory  in  their  significance  so  far  as  concerns  the  sub- 
sequent course  of  Iowa's  politicians  but  they  are  suggestive 
of  the  fact  so  generally  unappreciated  that  on  the  morning 
of  May  18,  1860  Abraham  Lincoln  was  not  "an  UnknoA\Ti." 

At  the  first  National  Republican  Convention  in  Philadelphia 
in  1856  Lincoln  received  110  votes  for  Vice-President.  Iowa's 
delegates  it  seems  not  only  did  not  give  him  any  votes  but  it 
appears  they  rather  stubbornly  refused  to  do  so  when  the 
promoters  of  Lincoln's  candidacy  felt  that  they  could  expect 
some  support  because  of  either  claims  of  neighborhood  or 
of  assumed  political  obligations.  Mr.  AVm.  B.  Archer,  who 
initiated  the  movement,  writing  Lincoln,  complains:  "Ohio 
and  Iowa  treated  me  badly  and  I'U  see  them  paid  off."  His 
letter  recently  published,  however,  exonerates  the  lowans  from 
recreancy.  It  shows  clearh'  that  he  and  Lincoln's  friends 
did  not  make  a  move  until  McLean's  nomination  for  the  first 
place  was  found  to  be  impracticable,  namely  midnight  before 
Fremont's  nomination  was  made;  and  then  the  lowans  had 
personally  committed  themselves  to  Dayton  and  would  not 
consent  to  switch  their  vote.^ 

AVhether  the  delegates  from  Iowa  to  the  Philadelphia  con- 
vention were,  or  were  not,  indifferent  or  recreant  as  regards 
the  claims  of  Mr.  Lincoln  to  their  support  tliey  had  hardly 
returned  to  their  homes  before  their  keen-eyed  and  resource- 
ful leader,  Governor  Grimes,  addressed  ]\Ir.  Lincoln,  inviting 
him  to  come  over  the  river  and  give  his  aid  and  influence  to 
the  Republicans  to  increase  their  chances  of  carrying  Iowa 
for  Fremont  and  Dayton.  Mr.  Lincoln  felt  constrained  to 
decline  but  with  a  suggestion  that  events  might  induce  him 
to  accede  to  the  Governor's  wishes.    His  letter  is  interesting: 

Yours  of  the  29th  of  June  was  duly  received.  I  did  not  answer  it 
because  it  plagued  me.  This  morning  I  received  another  from  Judd 
and  Peck,  written  by  consultation  with  you.  Now  let  me  tell  you 
why  I  am  plagued: 


^Century,   Vol.    LXXVI,    p.    1S9 — Jesse    W.    Weik,    "Lincoln's    Vote    for 
Vice  President,"  etc. 


THE  REPUBLICAN  PRELIMINARIES  OF   1860  7 

1.  I  can  hardly  spare  the  time. 

2.  I  am  superstitious.  I  have  scarcely  known  a  party  preceding 
an  election  to  call  in  help  from  the  neighboring  States,  but  they 
lost  the  State.  Last  fall,  our  friends  had  Wade,  of  Ohio,  and  others, 
in  Maine,  and  they  lost  the  State.  Last  Spring  our  adversaries  had 
New  Hampshire  full  of  South  Carolinians,  and  they  lost  the  State. 
And  so  generally,  it  seems  to  stir  up  more  enemies  than  friends. 

Have  the  enemy  called  in  any  foreign  help?  If  they  have  a  for- 
eign champion  there,  I  should  have  no  objection  to  drive  a  nail  in 
his  track.  I  shall  reach  Chicago  on  the  night  of  the  15th,  to  attend 
to  a  little  business  in  court.  Consider  the  things  I  have  suggested, 
and  write  me  at  Chicago.  Especially  write  me  whether  Browning 
consents  to  visit  you.    Your  obedient  servant,  A.  Lincoln. 

Mr.  Lincoln's  "superstitution"  is  not  uncommon  among  ex- 
perienced politicians ;  but  it  was  not  unconquerable ;  as  in 
1860  following  his  Cooper  Institute  speech  he  "invaded"  Con- 
necticut, Rhode  Island,  and  New  Hampshire  in  his  celebrated 
New  England  tour.  The  letter  indicates  the  considerations 
that  controlled  much,  if  not  most,  of  ]\Ir.  Lincoln's  tactics  in 
his  political  activity  between  1854  and  1860,  namely — if  any 
distinguished  champion  of  the  Democratic  party  entered  the 
lists  within  his  OAvn  circuit  or  within  the  range  of  his  influ- 
ence Mr.  Lincoln  would  consent  to  follow  and  drive  nails 
in  his  track.  Thus  he  systematically  pursued  Stephen  A. 
Douglas  in  Illinois ;  thus  he  pursued  him  over  into  Iowa  in 
1858 ;  and  thus  he  followed  close  upon  his  great  rival  into 
Ohio  in  1859.^ 

The  communications  between  the  republican  leaders  of 
Iowa  and  Illinois  in  1856  indicate  very  clearly  not  only  popu- 
lar interest  in  Iowa  in  the  rising  statesman  of  Illinois  and  rec- 
ognition of  his  increasing  influence  but  unmistakable  signs  of 
practical  political  co-operation  between  the  party  leaders  of 
the  two  states — a  fact  that  perhaps  constituted  the  ground  of 
Mr.  Archer's  resentment  of  the  conduct  of  the  lowans  at  Phila- 
delphia. The  ]\Ir.  Judd  referred  to  in  the  correspondence  was 
doubtless  Mr.  Norman  B.  Judd  who  later  played  a  conspicu- 
ous part  in  the  promotion  of  the  candidacy  of  Mr.  Lincoln  at 
Chicago.    Mr.  Judd  was  then  or  shortly  thereafter  one  of  the 


iThe  above  letter  was  dated  "Springfield,  Illinois,  July  12,   1856."     It  is 
taken  from  Dr.  Salter's  Grimes,  pp.   83-84. 


8  IOWA  AND   ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

directors  of  the  Chicago  and  Rock  Island  railroad  company  and 
of  the  Mississippi  and  ^Missouri  railroad  then  projected  into 
Iowa  and  was  thus  in  the  nature  of  the  case  personally  much 
interested  in  the  developments  in  lowa.^ 

Some  two  or  three  months  later  the  Republicans  of  ]\Iusca- 
tine  arranged  for  a  general  rally  of  their  cohorts  and  leaders 
to  be  held  in  that  city  September  23.  Mr.  Henry  0 'Conner, 
one  the  Republican  Presidential  Electors  at  Large,  casting 
about  for  notabilities  to  grace  the  occasion  and  attract  the 
multitude  addressed  a  letter  to  Mr.  Lincoln  inviting  him  to  be 
present.  In  his  reply  he  said  that  he  should  be  glad  to  attend 
but  Iowa  was  "out  of  all  danger"  and  his  duty  was  in  "Illi- 
nois where  much  hard  work''  had  to  be  done.- 

3.     First  Expressions— 1856-1857. 

Forecasting  the  Presidential  fates  is  an  inveterate  habit 
of  Americans,  particularly  of  editors  and  politicians.  The 
quadrennial  election  is  no  sooner  over  than  some  venture  upon 
predictions  or  suggestions  as  to  candidates  for  the  ensuing 
Presidential  contest.  The  practice  was  vigorous  in  the  fifties. 
The  returns  showing  Buchanan's  triumph  in  1856  had  hardly 
been  certified  before  the  X.  Y.  Herald  ran  up  Fremont's  name 
as  the  best  candidate  for  the  Republicans  in  1860.  It  asserted 
that  the  opponents  of  the  Slavocrats  could  "only  hope"  for 


^Hon.  Peter  A.  Dey  to  the  writer  Aug.  1,  1908.  At  the  stockholders' 
meeting  in  Davenport  in  the  forepart  of  1859  tlie  following  were  among 
those  elected  to  the  Board  of  Directors  of  the  M.  &  M.  R.  R.  :  Gen.  John 
A.  Dix,  N.  B.  Judd,  Hiram  Price  and  J.  Scott  Richmond.  See  Montezuma 
Weekly  Republican,  June  16,   1859. 

^Lincoln's   Works    {Milller  ed.),  Vol.  IX,  p.   19. 

Since  the  above  was  written  the  writer  has  obtained  another  bit  of 
interesting  evidence  of  Lincoln's  interstate  reputation,  twelve  years  before 
the  letters  cited  above.  In  the  campaign  of  1844  the  Whigs  of  Burlington 
arranged  for  a  Mass  meeting  in  that  city  on  July  13th.  They  issued  a 
printed  circular  under  date  of  July  1st,  inviting  '"the  attendance  of  the 
Whigs  of  the  Territory  generally."  Among  the  active  promoters  of  the 
meeting  was  James  W.  Grimes.  He  sent  one  of  the  circulars  to  Mr.  David 
E.  Blair  of  Yellow  Springs  in  Des  Moines  County  and  on  an  inner  page 
wrote  urgently  asking  him  to  arouse  and  bring  the  voters  of  his  "whole 
township"  to  the  meeting.  The  note  closes  with  the  statement,  added 
evidently  as  a  conclusive  inducement  warranting  his  attendance,  namely — 
"Baker  and  Lincoln  of  111.  &  some  Mo.  men — besides  Lowe,  Woodward, 
Raid  &  are  expected."  The  Baker  referred  to  was  Edward  D.  Baker,  that 
year  a  candidate  for  Congress,  having  defeated  Lincoln  for  the  nomina- 
tion ;  later  Senator  from  Oregon:  killed  at  Ball's  Bluff  in  1861.  The 
original  circular  with  Grimes'  letter  therein  was  sent  the  writer  by  a  son 
of  the   original   recipient,   M.   W.   Blair   of   Mediapolis,   Iowa. 


THE  REPUBLICAN  PRELIMINARIES  OF  1860  9 

success  "under  the  name  of  Fremont;"^  that  his  nomination 
would  signify  the  popular  overthrow  of  the  oligarchical  rule 
of  politicians  "who  care  for  no  earthly  thing  but  the  spoils ;"- 
and  after  pointing  out  that  he  had  excelled  Jackson  and 
Harrison  in  popularity  it  declared  that  "in  every  direction  the 
Fremont  papers  are  running  up  his  name  for  1860."^ 

After  quoting  his  eastern  contemporary  Mr.  J.  B.  Howell, 
Editor  of  The  Gate  City  of  Keokuk  closed  an  editorial  (No- 
vember 11)  with  the  prediction  that  the  next  president 
"will  be  John  Charles  Fremont!  Look  over  the  field  calmly 
and  considerately,  and  answer,  Why  not  1 ' '  On  the  same  date 
Mr.  John  Mahin  said  in  the  Muscatine  Daily  Jmirnal:  "We 
would  rather  run  his  name  to  our  mast  head  today  for  the 
conflict  in  1860  than  that  of  any  other  man  in  America.  Such 
we  believe  the  sentiment  of  the  Republican  party  every- 
where." Just  a  week  later  Mr.  C.  C.  Flint  urged  caution  in 
the  Duhuque  Daily  Republican  under  the  suggestive  caption 
"Let  us  Go  to  Work:" — ^"It  is  not  wise  to  keep  up  the  names 
of  Presidential  candidates  for  the  next  four  years,  with  all 
the  drill  of  a  Presidential  campaign.  We  say  this  without 
abating  in  the  least  the  love  and  honor  which  we  shall  always 
bear  to  Colonel  Fremont,  and  with  the  firm  determination  of 
supporting  him  for  the  Presidency  in  1860.  He  is  our  man 
for  that  office  and  we  know  that  we  shall  elect  him  then  if  he 
lives.  But  men  die ;  times  change ;  principles — the  principles 
of  Truth  and  Justice  embodied  in  the  Republican  platform — 
they  alone  are  permanent.  What  then,  shall  we  do !  Let  us 
keep  up  our  local  organization."  The  writer  was  not  cer- 
tain M'hether  he  should  let  prudence  or  sentiment  prevail. 
It  was  not  strange  perhaps  for  we  are  told  that  the  Fremonters 
of  St.  Charles  (now  Charles  City)  felt  their  defeat  so  in- 
tensely that  on  November  27th  they  not  only  had  their  party 
pennants  still  flying  but  had  the  national  ensign  "dressed" 
in  mourning  and  displayed  at  half-mast,  and  though  defeated 


'^New    York  Herald.  Nov.    8.    1S56.      -lb..  Nov.    9th. 

Hh.,  Nov.  12th.  Before  1860  the  management  of  The  Herald  suffered 
a  radical  change,  the  Rochester  speech  of  Seward  and  the  raid  of  John 
Brown  on  Harpers  Ferry  causing  it  to  become  a  violent  opponent  of  tlie 
Republican  party. 


10       '  IOWA  AND   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN 

"seem  to  have  lost  none  of  their  energy,  none  of  their  enthusi- 
asm for  their  youthful  leader."^  ]Mr.  Mahin,  on  the  same  day 
urged  Republicans  to  direct  their  attenion  to  the  "organiza- 
tion : "  "  Such  is  the  Avatchword  everywhere. ' '  He  then  gives 
some  sound  advice  that  their  recent  defeat  made  very  perti- 
nent, namely,  to  conciliate  the  Fillmore  vote  by  "as  liberal 
policy  towards  the  American  part}"  as  fidelity  to  the  fimda- 
mental  principles  of  our  creed  will  permit." 

Specific  discussion  of  candidates  and  issues  for  1860  suf- 
fered a  lull  for  several  months.  Discussion  was  stirred  in  the 
east  when  in  Jime  1857  the  Republicans  of  New  Hampshire 
at  their  State  Convention  by  resolution  commended  Fremont 
to  the  country  for  the  Presidency  in  1860.  There  w'ere  but 
few  echoes  in  Iowa.  ]\Ir.  Howell  briefly  noted  the  fact  with 
the  cautious  observation :  "  It  is  too  early  yet  to  commit  our- 
selves very  decidedly.  But  if,  when  the  proper  time  comes, 
the  name  of  Fremont  should  prove  more  acceptable  to  the  Re- 
publican masses,  we  shall  do  battle  for  him  with  a  right  good 
will."-  The  State  campaign  that  year,  however,  elicited  a 
noteworthy  expression  from  Mr.  A.  AY.  Ilackley.  editor  of  the 
Dubuque  Daily  Tribune  (September  11,  1857)  :  the  immedi- 
ate considerations  iu  the  local  canvass  provoked  it  but  he 
clearly  had  ultimate  developments  in  mind.  Discussing  "The 
Real  Issue ' '  his  initial  sentences  were  : 

"The  real  issue  now  before  the  people  is  Slavery,  and 
this  will  continue  to  be  the  all  controlling  issue  until  either 
Freedom  or  Slavery  triumph.  Two  such  antagonistic  prin- 
ciples cannot  long  exist  and  both  be  struggling  for  mastery; 
one  or  the  other  must  yield." 

]\Ir.  Hackley  here  stated  forcefully  the  same  thought  that 
Abraham  Lincoln  ten  months  later  put  into  more  luminous 
phrase  in  his  speech  at  Springfield  (June  16)  when  he  was 
chosen  to  contest  the  Senatorship  with  Stephen  A.  Douglas; 
and  that  AYm.  H.  Seward  later  expressed  in  his  celebrated 
speech  at  Rochester  (October  25)  which  Yon  Hoist  tells  us  had 
the  effect  of  a  "miohty  clap  of  thunder."^    Complete  original- 

^St.   Charles  InteUigencer.   Nov.    2",    1856. 
2r;ie  Gate  City.  Julv  20,  1857. 
^History,  Vol.  VI,   p.   265. 


THE  REPUBLICAN  PRELIMINARIES  OP  1S60  11 

ity  cannot  be  claimed  for  Mr.  Hackley  as  the  Richmond  (Va.) 
Enquirer  had  in  1856   (May  6)   clearly  pointed  out  the  in- 
herent antagonism  between  Free  Labor  and  Slavery.- 


^The  chain  of  title  to  tlie  tliought  and  piiraseology  of  Lincoln's  declar- 
ation— ■"  'A  house  divided  against  itself  cannot  stand.'  1  believe  this  gov- 
ernment cannot  endure  permanently  half  slave  and  half  free" — is  slightly 
obscured. 

In  his  speech  at  Columbus  (O. )  Lincoln  said  (Sept.  16,  1859)  :  "It  is 
true  that  exactly  fifteen  months  ago  this  day,  I  believe,  I  for  the  first  time 
expressed  a  sentiment  upon  tliis  subject"  (Works,  Vol.  IV,  p.  209).  The 
next  day  at  Cincinnati  he  said  :  "But  neither  I  nor  Seward,  nor  Hickman 
is  entitled  to  enviable  or  unenviable  distinction  of  having  first  expressed 
that  idea.  The  same  idea  was  expressed  by  the  Richmond  Enquires-  in 
Virginia  in  1856  quite  two  years  before  it  was  expressed  by  the  first  of 
us"   (Works,  lb.,  p.  260). 

Lincoln's  statements  are  to  be  taken  strictly,  viz.,  as  applicable  only  to 
the  first  public  expressions  of  the  idea  for  the  thought  and  the  same  form 
of  expression  was  uttered  by  him  three  if  not  four  years  before.  Miss 
Tarbell  cites  Judge  T.  Lyle  Dickey  who  as-serted  that  when  the  Kansas- 
Nebraska  storm  broke  Lincoln  said  to  him  "I  tell  you  that  this  nation  can 
not  exist  half  slave  and  half  free"  (Life,  1-288).  In  what  Von  Hoist  calls 
"the  remarkable  letter  of  August  15,  1855"  to  George  Robinson  of  Lex- 
ington. Kentucky,  the  last  paragraph  contains  the  same  thought — "Our 
political  problem  now  is  'Can  we  as  a  nation  continue  together  perma- 
nently— forever — half  slave  and  half  free?"  (Works,  VIII-57.)  These 
were  private  expressions  of  the  thought  that  was  gathering  strength  as  he 
studied  the  developments  of  the  problem  but  he  was  not  prepared  to  risk 
his  political  fortunes  or  to  put  in  jeopardy  those  of  his  party  on  the  throw 
of  a  public  pronouncement  for  Mr.  Rhodes  tells  us  that  he  incorporated 
the  idea  in  the  draft  of  a  speech  in  1856  but  on  advice  struck  it  out 
(History,  11-315). 

A  few  days  after  the  passage  of  the  Nebraska  act  in  1854  the  same 
sentiment,  worded  somewhat  differently,  was  expressed  in  the  N.  Y. 
Tribune: 

".  .  .  The  permanence  of  the  Union  is  predicable  only  upon  one 
of  two  conditions,  either  the  South  must  put  an  end  to  slavery,  or  the 
North  must  adopt   it     .      .      ."' 

General  James  Grant  Wilson  in  his  Life  of  Chas.  A.  Dana  accredits  the 
editorial  to  Horace  Greeley,      (pp.   129-130.) 

To  what  extent  the  expression  of  the  Richmond  Enquirer  was  current 
in  the  West  in  1856  I  can  not  say.  Lincoln  evidently  kept  his  weather 
eye  upon  its  columns  as  his  speech  in  Chicago  on  Dec.  10th  of  that  year 
indicates.  The  furious  attacks  upon  the  Republicans  for  their  announce- 
ment and  reiteration  that  the  conflict  of  slavery  and  freedom  was  irre- 
pressible drew  the  following  rejoinder  from  The  Gate  City  of  Keokuk, 
Nov.   23,  1859: 

.  .  .  .  [the]  announcement  in  lucid  terms  of  Lincoln  and  Seward,, 
and  the  making  it  a  basis  of  argument,  has,  in  point  of  fact,  been  an- 
nounced most  frequently,  clearly  and  pointedly  by  the  ultra  part  of  the 
slaveholders.  ...  It  was  the  sagacious  apprehension  of  tliis  fact  that 
caused  Calhoun  and  his  followers  to  decide  upon  an  aggressive  policy  .  .  . 

"We  have  been  led  to  these  reflections  by  the  remembrance  of  an 
article  from  the  Richmond  Enquirer  which  we  long  ago  publislied,  and  in 
which,  occurs   this  plain   and   striking  statement  of  the  fact : 

"Two  opposite  and  conflicting  forms  of  society  cannot  among  civilized 
men  coexist  and  endure.  The  one  must  give  way  and  cease  to  exist— the 
other  becomes  universal. 

"If  free  society  be  unnatural,  immoral  and  unchristian,  it  must  fall 
and  give  way  to  slave  society — a  social  system  old  as  the  world — as  uni- 
versal  as  man." 

"Did  ever  Seward  or  Lincoln  or  Thomas  Jefferson  state  the  case  more 
definitely,   or   imperatively  than   that?" 

The  date  of  the  first  publication  of  The  Enquirer's  statement  by  The 
Gate  City  I  have  not  discovered. 

The  phrase  "a  house  divided  against  itself,  etc.,"  had  long  been  a 
favorite  one  with  Lincoln.  He  used  it  effectively,  as  Chairman  of  a 
Committee,  in  an  Address  to  the  Whigs  of  his  Congressional  District  in 
184  3,  urging  "harmony"  and  active,  concerted  effort  on  the  part  of  the- 
opponents  of  the  Democratic  party.  See  Nicolay  and  Hay,  A  brahain 
Lincoln,  etc..  Vol.   1-219. 


12  IOWA  AND   ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

Again  we  may  note  a  continuing  public  interest  in  Abraham 
Lincoln  in  Iowa  three  years  before  his  nomination.  The  Re- 
publicans of  Iowa  had  good  reason  to  regard  their  prospects 
in  the  Fall  elections  of  1857  with  anxiety  and  their  leaders 
looked  here  and  there  for  assistance.  Some  time  in  July  or 
August  Governor  Crimes  wrote  Mr.  Lincoln  and  tried  to  se- 
cure his  promise  to  come  over  and  speak  one  or  more  times 
during  the  campaign  for  the  adoption  of  the  new  constitu- 
tion. Mr.  Lincoln  was  not  unwilling  to  come  but  his  court  en- 
gagements, the  Rock  Island  Bridge  case  in  particular,  pre- 
vented his  giving  more  than  a  conditional  promise.  He  agreed 
to  speak  at  Davenport  in  case  the  court  should  require  a  per- 
sonal examination  of  the  physical  conditions  of  the  bridge  at 
Rock  Island,  and  he  asked  Governor  Grimes  for  data  relative 
to  the  points  in  issue  affecting  the  old  and  new  constitutions. 
He  was  unable  to  fulfill  his  promise,  but  the  fact  that  Gov- 
ernor Grimes,  one  of  the  coolest,  keenest  judges  of  political 
ability  and  popular  speakers,  should  again  seek  to  secure  the 
assistance  of  Lincoln  in  such  a  campaign  indicates  very  clearly 
that  the  Illinois  lawyer  was  then  a  man  with  a  decided  inter- 
state reputation.^ 

In  commenting  upon  an  address  of  N.  P.  Banks  before  the 
American  Institute  in  New  York,  Mr.  A.  B.  F.  Hildreth  in  an 
eulogistic  editorial  comes  very  near  putting  him  forward  as 
a  candidate  but  he  merely  recognizes  his  strong  qualities  and 
suggests  that  his  remarkable  achievements  theretofore  would 
not  make  his  achievement  of  Presidential  honors  at  all  sur- 
prising.- 

So  far  as  I  can  discover  the  first  clear  cut  expression  of 
specific  preference  and  advocacy  of  a  candidate  was  made  in 
northern  central  Iowa.  In  the  issue  of  The  Hamilton  Freeman 
of  December  10,  Mr.  Charles  Aldrich  placed  at  the  head 
of  his  editorial  column: — "For  President,  1860 — JOHN  C. 
FREMONT,"  and  immediately  below  "For  United  States 
Senator— JAMES  W.  GRUMES."  The  names  appeared  with 
little  comment  and  no  exhortation.    In  an  editorial  note  of  a 


^Salter's  Grimes,  p.   95. 

^The  St.  Charles  Intelligencer,  Nov.  5,   1857. 


THE  REPUBLICAN  PRELIMINARIES  OF  1860  13 

few  lines  he  says  simply : — They  are  ' '  two  statesmen  whom  we 
ardently  desire  to  see  chosen.  .  .  .  They  are  so  thoroughly 
known  and  appreciated  by  the  people  of  northwestern  Iowa, 
that  we  shall  not  today  enter  into  any  exposition  of  their 
merits — Believing  them  to  be  the  men  of  all  others  whose 
eminent  services  are  demanded  by  the  exigencies  of  the  times, 
we  shall  contribute  our  humble  efforts  to  swell  the  tide  of 
their  success." 

The  conjunction  of  the  two  names  was  probably  not  without 
significance.  Governor  Grimes  was  then  a  national  figure. 
As  early  as  1855  a  Cleveland  (O.)  paper  had  suggested  his 
nomination  for  Vice-President  as  a  running  mate  for  Salmon 
P.  Chase.^  Notwithstanding  the  hue  and  cry  of  northern  Iowa 
for  the  selection  of  a  Senator  from  the  north  half  of  the 
state,  Mr.  Aldrich  urged  Governor  Grimes  as  one  most  fit  to 
complete  the  party  triumph  begun  in  1854.  The  announce- 
ment, however,  has  a  more  decided  significance.  Mr.  Aldrich 
had  but  recently  come  from  central  western  New  York  where 
he  had  been  an  influential  factor  in  local  and  state  politics 
as  editor  of  Tlie  Olean  Journal.  He  was  there  in  the  thick  of 
the  party  contentions  when  Know-Nothingism  and  Temper- 
ance agitation  were  rampant,  working  the  temporary  defeat 
of  his  personal  friend,  Congressman,  later  Governor  and  Sena- 
tor, Reuben  E.  Fenton.  Being  a  New  Yorker  we  should  natur- 
ally anticipate  that  Mr.  Aldrich  would  have  been  an  enthusi- 
astic advocate  of  his  State's  distinguished  Senator  for  the 
Republican  nomination  for  the  Presidency.  On  the  contrary 
we  find  neither  advocacy  of  nor  so  much  as  favorable  reference 
to  Mr.  Seward.  His  reticence  respecting  the  statesman  of 
Auburn  continued  from  1857  up  to  the  assembling  of  the  con- 
vention in  Chicago  in  1860. 

Following  Mr.  Aldrich  a  few  days  later  Mr.  Hackley  at 
Dubuque  noting  the  increased  speculation  of  "politicians  and 
wireworkers"  and  the  action  of  the  Republicans  of  New 
Hampshire  respecting  Fremont  says  that  Fremont's  name  "is 
at  the  head  of  a  number  of  country  journals";  but  he  does 
not  indicate  whether  in  Iowa  or  not.     Of  possible  candidates 

^Salter's  Grimes,  p.    79. 


14  IOWA  AND  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

he  says  that  N.  P.  Banks  is  "not  unlikely  to  become  one  of  the 
most  prominent";  but  "Wm.  H.  Seward  is  at  the  present 
time  probably  the  strongest  man  in  the  party.  "^ 

4.     Coalition  among  the  Opposition  Discouraged. 

During  1858  the  discussion  of  the  Presidential  sucession 
almost  ceased.    AVhen  the  excitement  over  the  Lecompton  con- 
stitution  was  at  its  height   in   Washington   Charles  Sumner 
wrote  Theodore  Parker:     "What  is  doing  in  IMassachusetts ? 
Is  everybody  asleep ?' '    As  one  reads  the  newspapers  of  Iowa 
for  1858  the  same  query  suggests  itself— the  absence  of  defi- 
nite, vigorous  interest,  the  lack  of  views  and  suggestions  are 
noteworthy.    Everybody  seemed  to  be  awaiting  developments. 
Editors  occasionally  reprinted  extracts  of  articles  in  eastern 
papers  that  made  favorable  mention  of  a  possible  candidate 
or  referred  in  favorable  terms  to  some  of  their  public  utter- 
ances.    Thus  Mr.  Mahin  made  note  of  the  "powerful"  letter 
•of  Edward   Bates   against  Buchanan's   administration;-   and 
Mr.  John  Teesdale  notwithstanding  the  criticism  of  Hale  and 
others  lauded  Seward  as  a  Hampden  and  a  Burke  for  his 
speech  of  March  5  that  ' '  poured  such  an  avalanche  of  burning 
truth"  upon  the  admininstration.^     Mr.   Mahin  pronounced 
"sensible"  the  suggestion  of  the  Richmond  Whig  that  the 
Southerners  would  do  well  to  "fraternize  with  and  support 
Seward  for  the  Presidency"'  rather  than  Douglas  whom  they 
denoimced  as  "worse  than  Seward."*     The  Crescent  of  New 
Orleans  in  June  declared  that  "Wm.  H.  Seward  will  be  the 
next  President  if  he  lives  and  the  Union  lasts"  and  forthwith 
urged   disruption   as   preferable.     Mr.    Howell   reprints,   but 
indicates  no  preference;  he  simply  expresses  defiance,  observ 
ing — "if  he  is  elected,  or  any  other  of  the  great  republican 
leadei^,    all   such   fanatics   as   the   Crescent       .... 
will  be  driven  like  dogs  to  their  kennels  or  hung  by  the  way- 
side as  a  warning  to  traitors."-^     Mr.  Aldrich  kept  Fremont's 

^Dithuque  Daihj   Tribune,  Dec.    18,   1857. 
-Muscatine  Ddihj  Journal.  March  17,   1858. 
^Tri-Weekly  Citizen,   March   16,    1858. 
*^The  Muscatine  Journal.  June   29,   1858 
^The   Gate  City,  June   30,   1858. 


THE  REPUBLICAN  PRELIMINARIES  OF  1860  15 

name  at  the  head  of  his  editorial  page  continuously  until  Nov. 
5,  1858.  He  did  not  urge  the  consideration  of  Fremont 
editorially.  He  referred  to  him  once.  So  far  as  I  can  learn  he 
elicited  no  favorable  echo  from  the  party  press  of  the  State. 
He  removed  the  name  without  comment  and  did  not  refer 
again  to  Fremont  in  his  discussion  of  Presidential  candidates. 
His  purpose  may  have  been,  and  probably  was,  purely  stra- 
tegical, namely,  to  develop  public  sentiment  pro  or  con.  If 
such  was  his  purpose  he  certainly  discovered  that  the  senti- 
ment was  not  pro. 

One  matter  only  seems  to  have  educed  any  strong  expres- 
sions during  1858.  The  violent  break  of  Douglas  with  Bu- 
chanan and  the  southern  leaders  and  his  stout  fight  against 
the  Lecompton  constitution  made  a  number  of  the  Republican 
leaders  in  the  east  urge  an  alliance  with  him  and  the  promo- 
tion of  his  leadership.  Many  expected  and  not  a  few  advo- 
cated a  new  party  organization  that  might  comprehend  all 
varieties  of  the  opposition  to  the  Administration  especially  the 
large  body  of  Americans  that  had  supported  Fillmore.  With 
Greeley  of  The  Tribune  favoring  the  former  and  Raymond 
of  The  Times  suggesting  the  probability  of  if  not  promoting 
the  latter  a  new  order  of  things  seemed  immanent.  The 
response  in  Iowa  from  the  Republicans  was  not  favorable. 

Mr.  Mahin  while  admiring  Douglas'  heroic  opposition  to  the 
Administration  and  inclining  to  credit  his  course  to  sincere 
and  patriotic  motives  nevertheless  closed  a  judicial  editorial 
with  the  following  unequivocal  language:  "In  whatever  light 
we  may  regard  him,  we  must  still  be  forced  to  the  conviction 
that  he  is  unworthy  of  the  confidence  of  the  North  until  he 
arrays  himself  in  sackcloth  and  ashes  for  his  past  political 
sins  and  by  protracted  service  in  the  cause  of  freedom  proves 
his  faith  by  his  works.  "^  The  proposal  that  a  new  political 
party  be  organized  he  gave  short  shrift:  "It  is  idle  to  talk 
of  any  other  party  than  the  Republican  to  oppose  the  Ad- 
ministration. .  .  .  The  issue  before  the  country  is  slavery  or 
freedom  ...  As  Republicans  we  are  not  in  favor  of  com- 
promising    .     .     .     Our  platform  is  broad  enough  for  all  the 


1  The  Muscatine  Journal,  Dec".  29,  1857. 


16  IOWA  AND  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

brave  hearted  freemen  of  the  country  to  stand  on.     It  needs 
no  enlargement  nor  any  additional  planks."^ 

The  scheme  and  schemers  for  the  reconstruction  or  coalition 
of  the  opposition  parties  met  with  a  scornful  reception  from 
The  Hamilton  Freeman  (June  24).  Mr.  Aldrich's  editorial 
on  "The  Reconstruction  of  Parties"  presents  the  case  with 
such  vigor  and  gives  so  many  points  of  the  hostility  to  the  plan 
that  it  is  given  at  length.  There  is  much  in  the  phraseology 
and  in  the  attitude  of  the  writer  towards  compromise  that  we 
find  later  in  the  racy  letters  of  Fitz  Henry  Warren  to  J.  S. 
Pike  and  to  Samuel  Bowles  of  The  Springfield  (Mass.)  Repub- 
lican in  the  forepart  of  1860  when  a  movement  somewhat 
similar  was  vigorously  promoted. 

There  seems  to  be  a  general  movement,  says  Mr.  Aldrich,  on 
the  part  of  the  Fillmore  wing  of  the  American  Party,  aided  and 
abetted  by  some  of  the  more  eccentric  of  the  Republican  press  to 
reconstruct  parties,  meaning  by  this,  a  union  of  that  faction  with 
the  Republican  party  upon  the  basis  of  a  new  organization,  a  new 
party  with  a  new  name,  with  a  platform  that  shall  discard  the 
doctrines  of  the  Republicans — that  "Freedom  is  National  and  Slavery 
Sectional,"  and  that  shall  also  be  silent  in  regard  to  the  extension  of 
slavery  into  the  Territories — in  short,  a  party  bound  together  and 
cemented  by  the  sole  object  of  opposition  to  the  present  administra- 
tion and  a  division  of  the  spoils. 

The  game  of  Americanism  has  been  played  out,  and  these  old 
fossils  have  been  left  "sticking  out," — they  now  desire  part  and 
parcel  with  the  victorious  republicans,  but  true  to  their  instincts 
and  antecedents  they  must  bring  the  great  triumphant  and  rapidly 
increasing  Republican  party  down  to  their  own  level.  They  have 
the  unblushing  impudence  and  effrontery  to  ask  us  to  give  up  the 
republican  organization — to  strike  from  our  Platform  all  for  which 
we  have  been  contending — all  that  gives  life  or  vitality  to  the  party 
— ALL  that  makes  us  any  more  elevated  than  the  Democratic  party 
— to  stultify  ourselves — renounce  our  principles — give  up  our  name 
and  all  for  what?  Why  simply,  to  allow  this  miserable,  lying,  petri- 
fied squad  of  unadulterated  old  fogies,  who  traduced  John  C.  Fre- 
mont in  1856 — and  elected  Buchanan  President — to  come  in  and 
share  in  the  spoils  of  victory  that  the  Republicans  are  sure  to  win 
without  them — and  (can  impudence  go  farther?)  upon  terms  dictated 
by  themselves  and  disgraceful  to  us! 

If  we  are  wrong  in  our  conclusions — if  the  Fillmore  men  do  not 
desire  this  surrender  on  the  part  of  the  Republicans — but  are  willing 

i/b..  May   29,    1858. 


THE  REPUBLICAN  PRELIMINARIES  OF  1860  17 

to  adopt  our  principles — and  are  from  principle  anxious  to  aid  in  the 
overthrow  of  the  present  party  in  power  why  do  they  demand  any 
surrender  of  names  or  principles  on  our  part?  We  have  as  a  party 
conscientiously  opposed  James  Buchanan,  from  the  day  he  was 
nominated — and  all  measures  of  his  administration.  If  the  Fill- 
more men  had  done  the  same — if  they  had  cast  their  votes  for  the 
only  man  who  stood  the  least  chance  of  defeating  Mr.  Buchanan — 
instead  of  throwing  them  away  upon  Mr.  Fillmore — a  good,  reliable, 
competent  republican  would  have  stood  at  the  head  of  the  govern- 
ment at  this  moment — safely  guiding  the  ship  of  state  over  the 
shoals  and  rocks  on  which  Mr.  Buchanan  has  well  nigh  foundered  it. 
The  Republican  Party  to-day  are  in  the  majority  in  every  free 
State  in  the  Union  with  the  exception,  perhaps,  of  California;  and 
yet  this  little  squad  of  antiquated  politicians,  who  are  unable  to  con- 
trol half  a  dozen  school  districts  in  the  United  States,  gravely  ask 
the  Republican [s]  to  reorganize  their  party  on  such  a  basis,  as  will 
admit  them  to  share  the  spoils,  without  any  surrender  on  their  part. 
Our  preference  stands  at  the  head  of  our  columns,  [viz.  Fremont.] 

Mr.  Hildreth  while  not  advocating  a  coalition  recognized 
that  the  concurrent  and  conciliatory  actions  of  various  fac- 
tional leaders  of  the  Opposition  in  Congress  in  resisting  the 
Lecompton  frauds  would  doubtless  lead  to  new  party  align- 
ments favorable  to  Freedom  and  the  Republican  program. 
Noting  the  gathering  interest  in  Presidential  candidates  and 
coalitions  he  said  in  the  forepart  of  October:  "The  Presi- 
dential future  begins  to  be  discussed.  The  elements  are 
various  and  curious.  .  .  .  As  to  the  Republican  party  it 
is  impossible  to  predict  anything"  He  believed  that  the  re- 
cent "patriotic  votes"  of  the  Republicans  on  the  Crittenden- 
Montgomery  bill  in  Congress,  Corwin's  national  canvass  in 
Ohio,  Greeley's  concessions  to  Popular  sovereignty  and  the  in- 
disposition of  the  Republicans  to  insist  on  "no  more  slave 
states"  would  bring  about  a  new  alignment  of  national  parties 
and  hence  the  futility  of  predictions  or  the  aggressive  promo- 
tion of  particular  candidates.^ 

5.     The  Lincoln — Douglas  Debates. 

Biographers,  historians  and  literateurs  have  exalted  beyonJ 
all  peradventure  the  Debates  between  Abraham  Lincoln  and 

1  The  St.  Charles  Intelligencer,  Oct.  7,  1858. 
2 


18  IOWA  AND   ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

Stephen  A.  Douglas  in  1858  as  the  causa  causans  of  Lincoln's 
later  exaltation  and  the  major  fact  that  brought  the  people 
of  the  nation  to  their  senses  respecting  the  great  issue  in  the 
quadrennium  preceding  the  political  revolution  in  1860.  ]More 
than  this  not  a  few  would  have  us  believe  that  the  people 
were  tremendously  aroused  and  universally  alert  in  their 
appreciation  of  the  crucial  character  of  the  encounter.  Thus 
one  learned  historian  tells  us  that  the  debate  "was  followed 
by  the  whole  people  with  strained  attention."^  This  may  have 
been  so ;  but  if  so  the  people  of  loAva  were  for  the  most  part 
in  the  state  of  mind  described  by  Sir  Walter  Scott's  little 
friend — "more  than  usual  cabn." 

An  examination  of  twenty  different  papers  published  in 
sixteen  different  communities  demonstrates  that  the  pub- 
lic interest  in  the  debates  on  this  side  of  the  Mississippi  was 
very  various  and  curious  withal.  One  or  two  editors  only  seem 
to  have  had  a  lively  sense  of  the  strategic  importance  of  the 
contest  but  none  apparently  at  the  time  perceived  that  anything 
besidesDouglas' senatorial  and  perhaps  his  presidential  chances 
hung  in  the  balances.  Most  of  those  who  manifest  any  inter- 
est at  all  exhibit  but  little  beyond  the  common  concern  that  is 
aroused  by  an  interesting  spectacle.  Several  of  the  influential 
papers,  both  Democratic  and  Republican,  show  practically 
no  interest,  scarcely  noticing  it  either  in  editorial  or  in  news 
column.  As  Douglas  spoke  at  Galena  and  Eock  Island,  and 
Lincoln  at  Augusta  and  Carthage,  and  both  met  at  Quincy  all 
within  hail  and  each  separately  crossed  the  river,  visited  and 
spoke  at  Burlington  during  the  canvass  the  amount  of  atten- 
tion to  the  progress  of  the  debates  was  somewhat  more  in  the 
eastern  cities  of  Iowa  than  in  the  inland  towns.  A  brief  sum- 
mary of  the  notes  and  comments  is  not  inappropriate  nor 
without  value. 

The  columns  of  The  Gate  City  contain  nothing  especially 
noteworthy.  Lincoln's  challenge  and  the  virulent  opposition 
of  the  Administration  to  Douglas  are  noted.  Douglas'  gross 
misrepresentation  of  Lincoln's  connection  with  the  "Aboli- 
tion" conspiracy  and  platform  in  1854  in  the  initial  debate  at 


iVon  Hoist,   History,  Vol.  VI,  p.   287. 


THE  REPUBLICAN  PRELIMINARIES  OP  1860  19 

Ottawa  is  branded  by  ^Mr.  Howell  as  a  "forgery."  (Aug. 
31.)  The  fatal  answer  of  Douglas  to  the  second  Freeport  ques- 
tion is  noted  (Sept.  17)  ;  an  extract  from  Lincoln's  Charleston 
speech  relative  to  negro  quality  is  given  (Oct.  1).  An  excursion 
to  Quincy  ($1.50  round  trip)  is  advertised  and  "several  hun- 
dred" went  down.  The  debate  at  that  place  is  concisely  re- 
lated and  the  jubilation  of  the  Republicans  and  the  depression 
of  the  Democrats  at  the  outcome  are  asserted  (Oct.  15). 
When  Lincoln  was  advertised  to  speak  at  Carthage  all  who 
desired  "to  hear  one  of  the  most  celebrated"  orators  were  ad- 
vised to  go  (Oct.  20).  But  there  is  nothing  whatever  that 
signifies  public  interest  that  is  abnormal ;  at  most  there  is  noth- 
ing more  intense  than  is  frequently  witnessed  in  national  and 
state  campaigns. 

In  the  latter  weeks  of  the  contest  between  the  meetings 
at  Galesburg  and  Quincy  the  people  of  Burlington  were  per- 
mitted to  hear  Abraham  Lincoln  speak  on  the  great  questions 
in  issue.  Douglas  had  spoken  in  the  city  a  short  time  before. 
The  chairman  of  the  Republican  county  committee,  Mr. 
Charles  Ben  Darwin,  one  of  the  best  lawyers  of  Burlington, 
knowing  Lincoln's  tactics  of  following  close  on  Douglas'  trail, 
invited  him  to  favor  the  city  with  an  address.  As  he  was  listed 
to  speak  in  the  afternoon  of  Oct.  9  at  Oquawka  he  consented 
to  stop  over  and  speak  in  Burlington  in  the  evening,  in  the 
open  air  if  the  weather  would  permit.  The  arrangement  ap- 
parently was  not  announced  before  the  morning  of  the  8th. 
A  brief  but  effective  notice  of  the  speech  and  the  speaker  was 
published  in  The  Hawk-eye.  Referring  to  the  debate  at  Gales- 
burg, Editor  Clark  Dunham  states:  "Those  we  conversed 
with  think  Mr.  Lincoln  the  ablest  and  most  popular  speaker 
they  ever  heard  and  say  he  had  altogether  the  advantage  of 
Douglas  in  the  argument,  even  Douglas'  friends  acknowledg- 
ing it."  The  notice  closes  with  "Huzza  for  Lincoln."  In  the 
next  morning's  issue  three  separate  notices  are  inserted,  one, 
two  and  three  line  notices — one  of  which  reads :  ' '  There  will 
be  a  Grand  Concert  at  the  People's  Garden  this  evening  im- 
mediately after  Mr.  Lincoln's  speech."  Concerning  "Abe- 
Lincoln's  Speech  at  Grimes  Hall,"  Mr.  Dunham  remarks  on 
Monday : 


20  IOWA  AND   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN 

Grimes'  Hall  was  filled  to  its  full  capacity  ...  So  great  is  the 
sympathy  felt  here  in  the  spirited  canvass  in  Illinois,  and  so  high 
is  the  opinion  entertained  of  the  ability  of  Mr.  Lincoln  as  a  speaker 
that  a  very  short  notice  brought  together  from  twelve  to  fifteen 
hundred  ladies  aud  gentlemen. 

High,  however,  as  was  the  public  expectation,  and  much  as  was 
anticipated,  he,  in  his  address  of  two  hours,  fully  came  up  to  the 
standard  that  had  been  erected.  It  was  a  logical  discourse,  replete 
with  sound  argument,  clear,  concise  and  vigorous,  earnest,  impas- 
sioned and  eloquent.  Those  who  heard  recognized  in  him  a  man 
fully  able  to  cope  with  the  little  giant  anywhere,  and  altogether 
worthy  to  succeed  him. 

We  regret  exceedingly  that  it  is  not  in  our  power  to  report  his 
speech  in  full  this  morning.  We  know  that  we  could  have  rendered 
no  more  acceptable  service  to  our  readers.  But  it  is  not  in  our 
power. 

Mr.  Lincoln  appeared  Saturday  evening  fresh  and  vigorous,  there 
was  nothing  in  his  voice,  manner  or  appearance  to  show  the  arduous 
labors  of  the  last  two  months — nothing  to  show  that  immense  labors 
of  the  canvass  had  worn  upon  him  in  the  least.  In  this  respect  he  has 
altogether  the  advantage  of  Douglas,  whose  voice  is  cracked  and 
husky,  temper  soured  and  general  appearance  denoting  exhaustion.^ 

Several  queries  suggest  theraselves  that  are  pertinent  in  de- 
termining the  degree  of  public  interest  in  Burlington  regard- 
ing Lincoln  at  that  time.  Was  the  Grand  Concert  referred  to 
one  of  the  inducements  to  lure  a  crowd  to  hear  him?  If  so 
much  was  expected  of  the  speaker  why,  with  two  or  three  days' 
notice,  was  not  The  Hawk-eye  prepared  to  give  its  readers  a 
verbatim  report  of  the  speech?  If  the  speech  so  greatly  ex- 
ceeded anticipation  why  was  not  the  public  not  present  given 
a  detailed  summary^  of  the  main  points  made  by  the  noted 
speaker,  so  that  the  cause  which  Mr.  Dunham  favored  no  less 
could  be  promoted  far  beyond  the  circuit  of  that  particular 
audience?  The  three  hundred  words  or  so  devoted  to  the 
occasion  and  the  man,  while  highly  laudatory,  do  not  dem- 
onstrate an  abnormal  or  extremely  acute  public  interest.  I 
have  found  no  reference  in  the  contemporary  press  of  the 
State  to  the  fact  that  Burlington  was  favored  with  the  pres- 
ence of  the  two  noted  political  gladiators  during  the  progress 
of  .their  celebrated  canvass  in  1858  and  no  one  now-a-days^ 

^  The  Hawk-ewe,  Oct.  11,  1858. 


THE  REPUBLICAN  PRELIMINARIES  OF  1860  21 

aside  from  old  residents  of  Burlington  is  aware  of  the  fact.^ 
So  far  as  his  pages  indicate  the  editor  of  The  Journal  at 
Muscatine  felt  but  little  more  than  a  languid  interest  in  the 
forensic  contest  on  the.  other  side  of  the  river.  A  short  dis- 
patch or  extract  from  some  account  by  another  appears  rela- 
tive to  most  of  the  debates  but  there  is  no  especial  editorial 
mention.  The  space  given  seldom  exceeds  a  "stickful."  Mr. 
Mahin  evidently  went  up  to  Rock  Island  where  he  heard  Doug- 
las ;  and  he  closes  his  summary  of  the  speech  with  the  interest- 
ing observation:  "We  venture  to  say  that  the  majority  of  his 
audience  went  away  with  the  conviction  that  Mr.  Douglas  was 
on  the  wrong  side  and  knew  it  himself  but  feeling  more  sorrow 
than  anger  in  the  conviction."  (Oct.  30.)  The  organ  of  the 
Democrats  in  that  city  although  it  devotes  some  space  to  Doug- 
las' speeches  in  July  gives  the  debates  no  consideration.  It 
expresses  great  satisfaction  when  the  returns  gave  Douglas  the 
senatorship.-  but  there  is  no  sign  of  recognition  of  the  political 
revolution  that  was  so  greatly  hurried  forward  by  that  now 
celebrated  tournament. 

A  decided  and  lively  interest  in  the  Illinois  contest  is  mani- 
fested in  the  Davenport  Daily  Gazette.  Its  editor,  Mr.  Add 
H.  Sanders,  realizes  the  national  importance  of  the  campaign. 
"Our  sister  state  is  in  a  gloriously  excited  condition  .... 
Indeed  with  the  elections  approaching  in  many  other  states, 
the  eyes  of  politicians  everywhere  appear  to  be  turned  most 
anxiously  toward  the  election  in  Illinois.  The  reason  is  the 
coming  election  fixes  the  political  destiny  of  Stephen  A.  Doug- 
las, so  far  as  any  single  event  can  accomplish  that  object.    If 


1  The  writer  is  indebted  to  Dr.  WiUiam  Salter,  Iowa's  venerable  his- 
torian, to  Mr.  W.  W.  Baldwin,  Tax  Commissioner  of  the  C,  B.  &  Q.  Ry.,  and 
to  Miss  Daisy  N.  Sabin,  Librarian  of  the  Free  Public  Library— all  of  Burlington 
for  the  data  in  the  paragraphs  above  relative  to  Douglas  and  Lincoln's  appear- 
ances in  Burlington.  Mr.  Baldwin's  letter  of  June  10,  1907,  relates  the  follow- 
ing incident  that  strikingly  illustrdtes  the  simplicity  of  manner  and  method 
of  Judge  Douglas'  opponent,  an  eye-witness  telling  him  the  story. 

When  Mr.  Lincoln  arrived  at  the  old  Barrett  House  where  he  stopped 
while  in  Burlington  he  had  in  his  hand  a  small  package,  wrapped  in  a  news- 
paper. Handing  it  to  the  clerk  at  the  desk  he  asked  him  to  '  Please  take  good 
care  of  that.  It  is  my  boiled  shirt.  I  will  need  it  this  afternoon."  It  was  his 
only  "baggage". 

As  Mr.  Baldwin  remarks  in  a  later  letter  the  incident  is  interesting  for 
the  contrast  it  affords  with  the  methods  of  far  less  important  people,  who 
can  not  go  about  without  a  valet  or  a  retinue  of  servants. 
-The   Iowa   Democratic   Enquirer    (wk. ),   Nov.    11,    1858. 


22  IOWA  AND   ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

defeated  he  will  be  politically  dead.    If  successful  it  will  give 
him  higher  hopes  of  attaining  the  great  goal  of  his  ambition, 
than  he  could  have  reasonably  indulged  during  the  last  four 
j^ears."   (Sept.  3.)     There  is  considerable  space  given  to  ac- 
counts of  Douglas'  triumphal  journeys,  to  extracts  from  Lin- 
coln's speeches,  to  comments  upon  the  course  of  the  discussion 
and  to  fraternal  commiseration  of  the  dire  fratricidal  dissen- 
tion  among  the  Douglas  and  Administration  Democrats   in 
lowa.^  At  Dubuque,  The  Express  and  Herald,  a  Douglas  organ, 
paid  more  or  less  attention  to  Douglas'  campaign  but  selaom 
mentioned  Lincoln  and  then  only  with  contempt.  It  printed 
(Aug.  4)    a  Chicago  dispatch  that  designates  Lincoln  as  a 
cringing,  fawning  "Uriah  Heap,"  when  referring  to  his  pres- 
ence at  the  Douglas  meeting  in  Chicago,  July  9 ;  and  sneers  at 
"That  rank  Abolitionist  Lincoln"  who  dares  to  presume  to  seek 
the  place  of  the   "Little   Giant,"   who   it  declares,   is   "the 
greatest  man  in  the  American  Senate."     Aug.  25.)     At  the 
Galena  meeting  ]\Iayor  Hetherington  of  Dubuque  was  one  of 
the  notables  who  escorted  Douglas  to  the  platform.     (Aug.  26.) 
Going  inland  we  find  much  less  interest  in  the  debates  so  far 
as  the  pages  of  newspapers  afford  evidence  thereof,  although 
there  were  at  least  two  instances  of  marked  appreciation  of 
their  importance.  The  Ottumiva  Courier  reprints  Lincoln's  en- 
tire  speech   at   Chicago,   July   10th — seven   solid    columns — 
and  ]Mr.  J.  "W.  Norris  observed  editorially  (Aug.  12)  :  "The 
indications  are  that  it  will  be  the  most  exciting  canvass  that 
we  have  ever  had  in  this  country."    Mr.  Nori'is  immediately 
thereafter  went  east  and  nothing  further  is  found  in  his  col- 
umns about  the  contest  in  Illinois.    Mr.  A.  J.  Dowling,  editor 
of  the  Montezuma  Weekly  Republican,  has  frequent  notes  and 
comments  upon  the  debate  but  none  that  indicate  extraordi- 
nary interest. 

At  Vinton,  the  editor  of  The  Eagle,  ~Sh\  Thomas  Drum- 
mond,  indicates  a  keen  appreciation  of  the  contest  in  Illinois. 
Lincoln's  great  Springfield  speech  he  reprinted  almost  entire 


^The  -nriter  is  under  obligations  to  Mr.  Otha  Thomas  of  Valley  Junc- 
tion and  to  Mr.  Harry  E.  Downer  of  Davenport  for  the  above  citations 
from  the  Davenport  Daily  Gazette. 


THE  REPUBLICAN  PRELIMINARIES  OF  1860  23 

(Aug.  21).     He  makes  the  following  observations  upon  the 
character  and  significance  of  the  senatorial  contest  (Oct.  23)  : 

The  political  contest  now  waging  in  Illinois  in  the  earnestness 
zeal,  and  even  bitterness  with  which  it  is  conducted  by  all  parties 
exceeds  anything  of  the  kind  ever  before  known  in  that  state  or 
perhaps  in  the  Union.  Even  the  memorable  campaign  of  '40  sinks 
below  it  for  intensity  and  enthusiasm.  Men  now  think  of  nothing 
else — the  struggle  is  for  life  or  death.  Upon  the  result  in  Illinois 
this  year  depends  the  Presidency  in  1860.  If  Douglas  is  beaten 
now  for  the  Senate  he  is  beaten  forever  and  consigned  to  political 
oblivion.  If  he  is  successful  he  will  be  the  acknowledged  chief  of 
the  whole  Democratic  Party,  hold  Buchanan  at  his  mercy  and  without 
doubt  receive  the  nomination  of  the  Charleston  convention. 

Mr.  Drummond  thought  that  Lincoln  would  triumph  over 
Douglas,  although  he  perceived  that  an  unjust  apportionment 
might  give  the  legislative  majority  to  the  latter.  In  his  com- 
ments upon  the  victory  of  Douglas  Mr.  Drummond  says  that 
Lincoln 's  defeat  was  due  to  two  causes ;  first,  the  adverse 
apportionment  and,  second,  the  attitude  of  the  eastern  press, 
saying  scarcely  a  word  in  condemnation  of  Douglas  and 
dubiously  commending  the  Republicans  of  Illinois  who  had 
to  bear  the  brunt  of  the  bitter  fight.  Mr.  Drummond,  while 
he  watched  the  debates  with  keen  zest,  says  nothing  about 
Lincoln  that  indicates  that  he  perceived  his  remarkable  ability 
and  achievements  and  he  makes  no  mention  of  the  Freeport 
questions.^ 

At  Indianola,  was  the  Weekly  Visitor,  an  "Independent"  in 
policy,  whose  editor,  Mr.  James  H.  Knox,  had  strong  anti- 
slavery  extension  views,  but  one  can  find  no  mention  of  the 
debates.  The  same  is  true  of  the  two  Democratic  papers 
published  at  the  State  capital.  Neither  the  Iowa  State 
Journal  nor  the  Iowa  Statesman  demonstrate  even  ordinary 
interest  in  the  debates ;  after  the  decision,  the  latter  observes 
(Nov.  11)  :  "We  have  one  gratification  in  the  recent  elec- 
tions which  covers  up  a  multitude  of  misfortunes.  DOUGLAS 
IS  SAFE !  The  struggle  has  been  a  political  Waterloo,  with 
this  difference — the  'man  of  destiny'  is  victorious  over  the 
allied  powers."     The  columns  of  both  papers  are  filled  with 

iThe    writer    is    indebted  to    Rev.  A.  B.  EUiott  ol  Vinton  for  the  above 
excerpt  and  other  data  from  The  Eagle. 


24  IOWA  AND   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN 

discussions  of  new  railroad  projects,  agricultural  meetings, 
court  house  controversy,  Des  Moines  River  lands.  Taxes,  and 
"Gold!  Gold!"  [Pike's  Peak].  Such  prosaic  affairs  chiefly 
engaged  the  interests  of  their  readers. 

One  observer  at  the  state  capital,  however,  Mr.  John  Tees- 
dale,  editor  of  The  Iowa  Weekly  Citizen,  kept  a  keen  weather 
eye  on  the  encounter  in  Illinois — manifesting  a  realization  of 
its   vital  significance   exceeding  that   of   any   other   editorial 
writer — at  least  so  far  as  expression  indicated  such  realiza- 
tion.^   Noting  the  developments  from  time  to  time,  on  Septem- 
ber 8,  two  weeks  following  the  debate  at  Freeport  he  called  at- 
tention to  the  crucial  character  of  the  struggle.     After  re- 
ferring to  the  "political  excitement"  in  "our  sister  state"  he 
points  out  the  striking  contrast  between  the  pageant  of  Doug- 
las' itinerary  and  the  modest  procedure  of  Lincoln's  progress; 
the  dire  perplexity  of  Douglas  between  the  "Administration" 
Democrats  and  the  Republicans  who  a  short  time  previously 
had   encouraged   him   in   his   assaults   upon   the   Leeompton 
fraud,  and  his  vicious  recoil  upon  the  Republicans  Avhen  he 
found  that  the  local  leaders  in  Illinois  refused  to  promote  his 
candidacy;  Lincoln  and  Trumbull's  solid  "shots  below  the 
water  line"  when  they  hurled  the  exhibits  of  the  Congres- 
sional Record  showing  Douglas'  course  in  striking  from  the 
Toombs  bill  the  provision  granting  the  people  of  Kansas  the 
right  to  pass  upon  their  constitution;  Douglas'  tergiversation 
and    "artful   dodging"    anent   popular   soveriegnty   and   the 
Dred  Scott  decision;  how  Lincoln's  Freeport  questions  "threw 
him  off  his  guard"  and  gave  opportunity  for  a  fatal  thrust; 
how  enraged  the  "Administration"  and  the  Southern  leaders 
were  at  his  course.     If  Douglas  should  be  defeated  ]\Ir.  Tees- 
dale  believed  he  M'ould  be  "entombed"  beyond  any  hope  of 
"political  resurrection;"  and  if  he  should  win  he  would  re- 
turn to  Washington  "to  flaunt  his  triumph  in  the  face  of  the 
President.    .    .    .    His   vaulting   ambition   Avill    lead   him   in- 
to deadly  conflict  with  the  President,  his  cabinet  and  sup- 
porters everywhere.     It  is  therefore,     a     dubious     question, 

^Mr.  J.  M.  Dixon  was  Associate  Editor  of  The  Citisen  at  the  same 
time  but  there  seems  reason  for  believing  that  Mr.  Teesdale  penned  the 
major  editorials  of  the  paper. 


THE  REPUBLICAN  PRELIMINARIES  OF  1860  25 

whether  the  Republicans  have  more  to  hope  for  in  the  defeat, 
than  in  the  success  of  Douglas." 

Up  in  what  was  then  the  remote  Northwest,  at  Sioux  City, 
there  Avere  two  live  papers.  Mr.  F.  M.  Zieback,  editor  of  The 
Register,  the  Democratic  paper,  does  not  so  much  as  mention 
the  campaigTi  in  Illinois.  Tlie  editor  of  the  Republican  paper, 
The  Eagle,  Mr.  Seth  W.  Swiggett,  has  only  one  editorial  ex- 
pression on  the  debate;  but  it  shows  that  he  perceived  the 
momentous  consequences  involved  in  the  contest.  On  October 
23d  he  says:  "*  *  *  American  politics  have  never  developed 
so  close  and  heated  a  campaign  as  the  one  now  in  progress  in 
Illinois.  Every  inch  of  ground  presumed  to  be  doubtful  is 
contested  with  the  energy  of  desperation.  The  eyes  of  the 
Union  are  directed  on  the  combatants  to  the  exclusion  of  all 
other  objects  of  political  interest  for  all  perceive  that  the 
history  of  the  Republic  is  shaping  itself  around  the  Illinois 
battlefield.  *  *  *  whichever  way  the  beam  shall  fall,  (so  it  is 
held  abroad)  that  way  will  the  nation  incline  in  1860."  He 
does  not  venture  to  predict  as  to  the  probable  outcome.^ 

North  and  east  of  Des  Moines  the  indifference  of  the  press, 
and  of  course,  the  people  was  equally  noteworthy.  The  Boone 
County  News  (Oct.  1)  gives  a  column  to  the  debate  and  the 
week  following  quotes  from  Lincoln's  tribute  to  the  Declara- 
tion of  Independence ;  the  Hamilton  Freeman  makes  no  direct 
reference  to  the  contest;  the  St.  Charles  Intelligencer  says 
nothing  editorially  but  prints  two  letters  from  a  correspond- 
ent in  Illinois  (Oct.  7,  14),  who  recounts  some  incidents  of 
the  debate.  The  Quasqucton  Guardia)f  takes  no  notice  of 
the  contest.  If  anything  more  than  another  demonstrates 
that  many  of  the  preceptors  of  the  great  party  of  high  moral 
ideas  were  "more  than  usual  calm"  anent  the  great  debate 
it  is  the  fact  that  the  editors  of  the  first  and  third  papers 
last  mentioned,  Messrs.  Aldrich  and  Rich,  both  fine  types  of 
the  efficient  Yankee  character,  gave  their  columns  to  recital 
of  the  details  of  the  Morrissey-Heenan  Prize  Fight  in  Canada 


^For  the  statements  concerning  the  two  papers  of  Sioux  City  and  the 
extract  from  The  Eagle,  the  writer  is  under  obligations  to  Mr.  F.  H.  Rice, 
and  to  Messrs.  J.  C.  C.  Hoskins  and  George  Weare,  who  courteously 
permitted    Mr.    Rice   to    examine    their   files. 

2L,ater   The  Independence  Guardian. 


26  IOWA  AND   ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

while  virtually  ignoring  the  momentous  encounter  of  prin- 
ciples and  wits  near  their  own  doors, — a  fight  of  the  fates  in 
very  fact.^ 

But  were  the  lowans  different  from  their  compatriots  in  the 
older  States  to  the  east?  Not  appreciably.  The  New  York 
Herald  mentions  the  debate  infrequently  and  always  refers 
both  to  it  and  the  disputants  with  scorn  and  contempt.  It 
is  a  "Senatorial  Prize  Fight."  Douglas'  recreancy  and  dis- 
astrous course  constitute  the  burden  of  its  references.  The 
seismic  effect  of  his  answer  to  the  Freeport  questions  is  real- 
ized; but  Lincoln  is  ignored.  The  files  of  Greeley's  Daily 
Tribune  have  not  been  available  but  the  columns  of  the  semi- 
weekly  are  perhaps  not  less  instructive.  The  speeches  of 
Lincoln  and  Douglas  in  June  and  July  are  reprinted,  but 
the  speeches  delivered  at  the  first  debate  at  Ottawa  are  alone 
reproduced.  Three  editorials  (Aug.  27,  Sept.  24,  Nov.  9) 
discussed  the  struggle  in  Illinois  but  Douglas  is  the  man 
chiefly,  almost  wholly  in  mind;  the  last  deals  with  his  "signal 
triumph,"  Lincoln  being  ignored.  There  is  no  comment  on 
the  Freeport  questions  and  answers.  On  October  22d  the 
entire  front  page  (six  broad  columns)  of  Mr.  Greeley's  great 
journal  was  given  over  to  a  minute  description  of  the  Mor- 
rissey-Heenan  Prize  Fight  and  at  the  bottom  we  read  ' '  ( See 
Eighth  Page)  "  As  much  news  space,  lacking  two  columns, 
was  given  over  to  the  fistic  bout  of  those  two  bruisers  as  to 
the  now  famous  combat  of  statesmen  pronounced  by  TJie 
Tribune  itself  to  be  "two  eminent  masters  of  the  art  of 
intellectual  attack  and  defense."-  The  many  thousand  of 
Greeley's  readers  in  Iowa  received  either  the  semi-weekly  or 
the  weekly  issue.  Wm.  Lloyd  Garrison's  paper,  The  Liber- 
ator, does  not  notice  the  debates  except  to  quote  Douglas' 
reply  to  Lincoln  respecting  the  Dred  Scott  decision.  -    New 


I  Hamilton  Freeman,  Nov.  12  and  The  Guardian,  Nov.  11,  185S.  Not  long 
before  his  death,  in  response  to  the  writer's  Inquiry  concerning  the  matter, 
Mr.  Aldrich  said,  with  the  glint  of  a  smile  in  his  eyes:  "Well,  sir,  the  fact  is 
that  in  some  respects  we  editors  in  those  days  were  not  much  better  than  they 
are  now-a-days." 

2JV.  Y.  Tribune  (S.  W.),  Aug.  27,  1858. 

3  The  Liberator,  Oct.  15,  1858. 


THE  REPUBLICAN  PRELIMINARIES  OF  1860  27 

York's  "Journal  of  Civilization"  Harper's  Weekly,  makes  no 
mention  of  the  debates  during  their  occurrence  but  it  does  give 
us  an  extended  account  of  the  pugilistic  bout  (three  columns 
or  more),  and  its  first  and  leading  editorial  discusses  "The 
Great  Prize  Fight."  Its  columns  on  "Domestic  Intelligence" 
during  all  of  those  months  were  filled  with  such  items  of  news 
as  we  found  in  the  press  of  Iowa,  such  as  the  doings  of  the 
]\Iornians,  Gold  discoveries,  etc.^ 

The  fact  is  our  chroniclers  and  eulogists  are  likely  to 
suffer  from  ex  post  facto  obviousness  in  dealing  with  the 
career  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  A  people,  like  persons,  seldom 
realize  the  significance  or  anticipate  the  consequences  of  cur- 
rent events.  They  appreciate  their  sensations  but  not  their 
sense  and  sequences.  The  people  generally  in  1858  only  real- 
ized that  an  interesting  spectacle  was  taking  place  in  Illinois 
at  the  end  of  which  one  or  the  other  contestant  would  be 
a  national  senator  and  in  the  case  of  one  increased  prestige 
would  enhance  his  strength  as  a  Presidential  aspirant.  There 
were  but  few  discerning  ones  who  saw  that  it  would  split 
assunder  a  great  national  party  and  bring  about  new  align- 
ments and  a  new  national  leader.  These  results  gradually 
dawned  upon  the  public  consciousness. 

Neither  the  Republicans  nor  the  people  of  Iowa  were  ob-. 
livious  of  the  pith  and  point  of  the  discussions  in  Illinois.  The 
large  crowds  that  went  from  Iowa  to  attend  the  debates  at 
Freeport,  Galesburg  and  Quincy,  to  hear  Douglas  at  Galena 
and  Rock  Island  and  Lincoln  at  Augusta  and  Carthage,  not 
a  few  going  from  towns  20  and  40  miles  west  of  the  river 


^Harper's  Weekly,  Oct.  30,  1858.  It  is  but  fair  to  state  tliat  Harper's 
Weekly,  prior  to  the  debates,  did  recognize  the  great  importance  of  the  contest 
In  niinols,  although  it  signified  no  interest  whatever  in  the  developments 
and  results  of  the  debates .  On  July  31  in  an  editorial  written  before  they  were 
under  way,  entitled  "The  Canvass  in  Illinois"  the  writer  asserts:  '  There 
can  be  no  question  but  the  pending  canvass  in  Illinois  is  one  of  the  most 
memorable  contests  which  ever  took  place  in  the  political  history  of  the 
United  States."  After  succinctly  outlining  the  positions  of  the  three  parties 
In  interest  he  closes  with  the  words:  "As  such,  the  canvass  is  worthy  of  the 
closest  attention . ' ' 

It  is  a  curious  commentary  upon  the  foregoing  that  the  only  signs 
whereby  the  editors  manifest  their  interest  in  that  memorable  canvass  are  by 
two  meagre  items  relative  to  Douglas,  namely:  one,  Oct.  16,  an  excerpt  from 
Douglas'  account  of  his  birth  "away  down  in  Yankee  land";  and  the  other, 
Nov.  6,  Vice  President  Breckenridge's  letter  favoring  his  re-election  to  the 
Senate.  From  neither,  however,  could  one  infer  that  an  epoch-making  dis- 
cussion had  created  new  political  conditions  in  our  national  party  strife. 


28  IOWA  AND  ABRAHAil   LINCOLN 

as  Fairfield,  Mt.  Pleasant  and  Keosauqua,  indicate  a  keen 
popular  interest.  Some  of  the  Republican  politicians  speedily 
discerned  the  practical  usefulness  of  the  points  scored  in 
Illinois  and  pressed  them  home  upon  their  opponents  in  their 
bouts  on  the  hustings.  Thus  at  Vinton,  Aug.  9,  the  editor 
of  The  Eagle,  ]\Ir.  Thomas  Drummond,  harried  Judge  W.  E. 
LeffingAvell,  the  Democratic  candidate  for  Congress,  with  "a 
series  of  questions  which  had  been  first  propounded  to  Judge 
Douglas  at  Bloomington  to  which  Mr.  Drummond  added  sev- 
eral of  his  own."^ 

6.     The  Dehates  and  the  Presidential  Succession. 

The  effect  of  the  debates  upon  opinion  regarding  the 
Presidential  succession,  while  ultimately  verj^  important,  Avas 
but  vaguely  apparent  during  their  progress  and  immediate- 
ly following.  General  Cyrus  Bussey,  a  ^Marylander  by  stock, 
was  then  a  resident  of  Bloomfield  in  Davis  county.  He  was 
an  admirer  and  staunch  supporter  of  Stephen  A.  Douglas 
and  followed  the  debates  in  Illinois  with  lively  interest.  He 
informs  me  that  generally  throughout  southeastern  Iowa  the 
Democrats,  while  they  scoffed  at  Lincoln  for  his  temerity  in 
venturing  to  break  lances  with  the  "Little  Giant,"  and  tried 
to  make  themselves  believe  that  he  was  some  sort  of  a  cross 
between  a  buffoon  and  a  monster,  "  half-horse-and-half -alliga- 
tor" who  advocated  Amalgamation  and  "Equality  with  the 
nigger"  nevertheless  felt  "in  their  bones"  that  the  Sangamon 
lawyer  got  the  better  of  their  doughty  champion.  They  felt, 
too,  that  notwithstanding  Douglas'  nominal  success  his  oppo- 
nent emerged  from  the  contest  the  larger  man,  both  intellect- 
ually and  morally  and  they  were  conscious  of  the  fact  that  if 
Douglas  was  of  Presidential  size  then  Lincoln  must  be  like- 
wise and  the  later  suggestion  of  Lincoln  for  the  Presidency 
did  not  seem  illogical  or  strange,  although  as  a  matter  of 
political  form  they  "hooted"   at  the   Rail-Splitter  as   a  fit 


^Dubuque   Express  and  Serald,  Aug.  11 .  1858— Editorial  Correspondence 
from  Vinton.    Mr.  Drummond's  interrogatories  are  set  out  at  length  in  The 

Eagle,  Aug.  7,  1858. 


THE  REPUBLICAN  PRELIMINARIES  OF  1860  29 

man  for  the  highest  office  in  the  land/ 

Two  of  Iowa's  leading  lawyers  heard  the  two  champions  in 
debate  and  were  so  much  impressed  by  the  intellectual 
prowess  of  Lincoln  that  they  instinctively  felt  that  he  was  a 
man  of  Presidential  proportions  and  so  expressed  themselves 
at  the  time.  ^Ir.  Austin  Adams  of  Dubuque,  later  Chief 
Justice  of  Iowa,  attended  the  debate  at  Freeport  and  he  is 
quoted  as  saying:  "I  have  just  heard  the  greatest  man  I  ever 
listened  to;  he  ought  to  be  President."-  Mr.  Henry  Strong, 
then  one  of  the  rising  young  lawyers  of  Keokuk,^  heard  the 
debaters  in  September.  He  wrote  his  college  classmate, 
Manton  ^Marble,  then  associate  editor  of  The  Boston  Journal: 
"I  have  just  heard  the  next  President  of  the  United  States — 
mark  my  prediction,  Manton."  He  writes  me  that  the  sub- 
stance of  his  letter  was  published  by  his  friend.* 

Excepting  the  few  comments  relative  to  the  effect  of  the 
debates  upon  the  presidential  prospects  of  Douglas,  already 
noted.  I  have  found  only  one  direct  editorial  expression  in 
the  latter  months  of  1853,  suggesting  the  possible  political 
advancement  of  his  antagonist  in  national  affairs  as  a  result 
of  his  achievements  in  that  contest.  It  was  not  very  explicit 
or  emphatic,  but,  nevertheless,  it  signifies  that  the  editor 
realized  that  Lincoln  was  not  unlikely  to  become  a  potent 
national  figure.  In  concluding  an  editorial  upon  "The  Illinois 
Election"  The  Marshall  County  Times  said  (Nov.  24)  : 
"After  all  the  Republicans  of  Illinois  have  done  nobly;  they 
have  cause  for  rejoicing  though  but  partially  successfully. 
Let  them  hang  out  their  banners  on  the  outer  walls  and  raise 
the  battle  cry  for  1860.  They  may  see  their  gallant  Old 
Abe  in  the  United  States  Senate  and  mayhap  as  its  presiding 
officer."^ 


1  Interview  with  General  Bussey,  October  8, 1997. 

'^  G\ie ,  History  of  /oira,  Vol.  IV,  p.  2.  Mr.  Gue,  or  the  author  of  the 
biographical  sketch  from  which  the  above  is  taken,  states  that  Mr.  Adams 
heard  Lincoln  and  Douglas  at  Galena;  Freeport  must  have  been  intended. 

3 Mr.  Strong's  law  partner  in  those  days  was  Mr.  John  W.  Noble, 
afterward  Secretary  of  the  Interior  in  President  Harrison's  cabinet. 

*  Letter  (MSS.)  to  the  writer,  June  4,  1907. 

'"■  The  writer  is  indebted  to  Miss  Nellie  A.  Thompson  of  Marshalltown  for 
the  extract  from  T/ie  Times.  The  authorship  of  the  editorial  cannot  be  stated 
as  the  paper  had  two  editors  besides  a  proprietor. 


30  IOWA  AND   ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

The  discussion  of  Presidential  possibilities  came  on  apace 
in  the  latter  months  of  1858.  The  effect  of  the  debates  in 
Illinois  and  of  the  "mighty  clap  of  thunder"  resulting  from 
Seward's  speech  at  Rochester  is  manifest.  As  was  the  case 
two  years  before  The  New  York  Herald  lead  off;  but  a  new 
name  was  on  its  pennant.  Douglas'  answers  at  Freeport 
produced  an  upset;  on  September  15  it  averred  that  by  them 
he  had  "proclaimed  himself  an  advocate  of  the  higher  law 
doctrine."  On  the  23d  it  declared  the  nomination  of  Win- 
field  Scott,  "a  necessity  for  the  Opposition."  A  week  later 
it  appeals  to  the  Opposition  not  to  imitate  the  Democrats  and 
"go  off  in  petty  squads  under  the  lead  of  Seward,  Critten- 
den, Banks  and  fifty  others  .  .  .  Scott  or  annihilation  is  their 
only  choice."  Its  insistence  upon  the  hero  of  Lundy  Lane 
was  earnest  indeed.^  Seward's  Rochester  speech,  however, 
produced  such  a  violent  shock  to  the  Herald's  sensibilities 
that  it  entirely  forgot  General  Scott  and  thenceforth  devoted 
itself  to  denunciation  of  what  for  nearly  two  years  it  branded 
as  Seward's  "brutal  and  bloody"  programme. - 

Meanwhile  the  Republican  press  of  Iowa  was  exceedingly 
unconcerned.  I  have  discovered  but  a  single  reference  to  the 
Herald's  advocacy  of  Scott  for  the  Presidency.  Seward's 
speech  is  ' '  eloquent  and  truthful, ' '  according  to  Mr.  Mahin  :^ 
in  Mr.  Aldrich's  judgment  "it  is  a  great  speech"  and  he 
reprints  it  in  seven  and  a  half  columns."*  Mr.  Teesdale  no- 
tifies his  readers  that  he  has  "laid  aside"  the  speech  to  re- 
print it  entire,  so  important  was  its  declarations  and  so  de- 
sirable was  it  that  his  readers  and  the  public  should  read 
them.''  None  of  the  Republicans  regarded  the  sentiments  of 
Seward  with  alarm.  The  doctrine  he  enunciated  apparently 
did  not  seem  revolutionary. 

There  are  but  few  signs  of  direct  interest  in  the  pros- 
pective Presidential  nomination.  Mr.  Teesdale  made  note  of 
the  presentation  of  Seward's  name  by  the  N.  Y.  Courier  and 
Enquirer  and  indicated  his  favorable  inclination  by  observ- 
ing: "When  the  proper  time  comes  there  will  be  a  great  many 

liV.  Y.  Herald,  Oct.  11,  1.1,  15,  19,   1858!     -Ih.,  Oct.  30th. 
^The  Muscatine  Journal,  Nov.   4,    1858. 
*The  Hamilton  Freeman,  Nov.  12,   1858. 
^The  Iowa   Weekly   Citizen,  Nov.    17,    1858. 


THE  REPUBLICAN  PRELIMINARIES  OF  1860  31 

seconds  to  that  motion."^  At  Muscatine  Mr.  Mahin  merely 
recorded  the  fact  of  the  announcement  of  the  proposal  of  the 
candidacy  of  the  statesman  of  Auburn  but  made  no  comment 
whatever.-  A  week  later  he  notices  the  zealous  con- 

tention of  the  New  York  Herald,  that  "so  far  as  the  results 
of  the  late  election  from  having  improved  the  chances  of 
either  Seward  or  Douglas  for  the  Presidency,  that  the  great 
Agitator  and  the  'Little  Giant'  have  thus  been  farther  re- 
moved from  the  goal  of  their  ambition  than  ever  they  wer^i 
before."  The  design  of  the  editor  in  such  notes  and  com- 
ments, if  other  than  recording  items  of  passing  interest,  is 
not  manifest. 

In  The  Eagle  of  Sioux  City  ^Ir.  Swigget  summed  up  the 
current  "Presidential  Speculations."  All  of  them  he  pro- 
nounced "premature,"  however.  "It  is  rashly  asserted  that 
Douglas  will  be  the  Democratic  candidate.  .  .  .  By  an 
equally  hasty  jumping  at  conclusions  a  great  many  people 
affirm  that  Seward  is  the  inevitable  candidate  of  the  Grand 
Opposition.  Others  talk  of  the  resurrection  of  Col.  Fremont. 
"He  then  cites  the  Delphic  decision  of  the  Louisville  Journal; 
namely :  ' '  The  only  power  which  can  successfully  cope  with 
the  United  Democracy  in  1860  is  the  United  Opposition  and 
the  Opposition  can  be  effectually  united  only  under  the  leader- 
ship of  a  southern  W^iig  or  American.  That  is  a  fixed  fact." 
He  then  refers  to  the  X.  Y.  Courier  and  Enquirer's  advocacy 
of  Seward,  to  the  Herald's  contention  for  Scott,  to  the  Even- 
ing Post's  wish  for  the  nomination  of  Chase  or  some  other 
western  man,  to  the  non-committal  course  of  The  Tribune  and 
to  Wentworth's  paper  [Chicago  Democrat]  that  "suggests 
Lincoln  for  President  or  Vice-President."  The  Chicago  Press 
is  disposed  to  follow  the  lead  of  the  X.  Y.  Tribune  and  wait 
like  Micawber  for  something  to  turn  up.  "Eighteen  months" 
he  concludes  "  is  a  great  distance  to  look  into  futurity  and  there 
the  many  ' '  surprises  "  to  be  encountered  before  that  day  comes 
by  intelligent  people  generally  and  by  wise  politicians  among 
the  rest.' 


^The  Iowa  Weekly  Citizen,  Nov.   17,   1858. 
^The  Muscatine  Journal,  Nov.   11,   1858. 
sr/ie  Eagle,  Nov.  27,   1858. 


32  IOWA  AND   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN 

Mr.  Mahin's  columns  contain  one  extended  expression  rela- 
tive to  the  prospective  presidential  nomination  that  was  both 
outright  and  downright,  reminding  us  of  not  a  little  of  the 
public  discontent  with  party  machinery  manifested  in  recent 
years.  The  New  York  Tribune,  on  Nov.  19,  contained  a  vigor- 
ous attack  upon  national  conventions  as  a  mode  of  select- 
ing party  candidates.  They  were,  it  asserted,  mere  caucuses 
of  "self-elected"  politicians  whose  deliberations  and  decisions 
were  perverted  because  their  grand  objective  was  the  acquis! 
tion  and  disposition  of  offices.  The  delegates  in  order  to  get 
the  spoils  make  the  nominee  and  thereafter  control  him  as 
their  representative  and  promoter.  ' '  Hence  the  f recjuent  nom- 
ination of  candidates  .  .  .  who  are  alike  unfit  and  unde- 
serving." "A  convention  is  necessarily  shy  of  bold,  decided, 
positive  men  .  .  .  whose  opinions  are  a  fair  compromise  be- 
tween something  and  nothing."  "Why  not  revolt  against  all 
this  party  machinery  and  smash  it.  What  need  is  there  for  a 
national  convention?  None  in  the  world  .  .  ."  The 
voters  of  the  country  in  each  party,  in  each  state,  are  then 
urged  to  nominate — whether  by  caucus  or  convention  or 
primary  is  not  intimated — and  to  "support  an  Electoral 
Ticket  pledged  to  vote  for  that  candidate  for  President  and 
Vice-President,  respecting  whom  the  largest  number  of  voters 
for  that  ticket  throughout  the  Union  shall  indicate  as  their 
choice."  The  plan  is  then  illustrated  and  defended  against 
objections.  Mr.  Mahin  announced  himself  immediately  (Nov. 
23)  as  an  advocate  of  the  proposed  reform  and  he  did  not 
mince  M'ords  in  declaring  his  advocacy  of  the  plan.  National 
conventions  that  nominated  candidates  and  dictated  platforms 
are  ' '  devices  of  the  devil, ' '  made  up  of  men  ' '  whose  chief  end 
is  the  glory  of  themselves  and  the  bamboozlement  of  the  peo- 
ple."  They  do  not  and  cannot  reflect  public  sentiment  for 
their  membership  consists  of  "ragamuffins  and  bullies,  polit- 
ical hacks  and  bankrupt  traders."  Public  offices  are  to  then- 
mere  "treasure-trove  which  escheats  by  vacancy,  to  their 
especial  use  and  profit."  The  suggestion  of  his  eastern  cun- 
temporary  he  endorses,  believing  it  to  be  thoroughly  practi- 
cable.    The  objection  that  factional  divisions  might  dissipate 


THE  REPUBLICAN  PRELIMINARIES  OF  1860  33 

the  party's  strength  and  thus  "elect  the  Charleston  nominee," 
he  derides:  but  "We  answer,  What  if  that  follows,  so  be  it. 
We  would  rather  be  defeated  in  voting  for  the  man  of  our 
own  free  choice  than  be  victorious  in  voting  for  the  choice  of 
such  scamps  as  rule  our  national  conventions.  But  we  deny 
the  premise."  He  a.sserts  his  belief  that  the  voters  of  the 
party  could  and  would  easily  unite  long  before  the  election 
on  some  one  man  who  could  poll  the  full  strength  of  the 
party.  Mr.  Mahin  was  a  fine  type  of  the  militant  radical 
whose  optimistic  faith  in  the  perfectability  of  mankind  was 
not  dismayed  by  the  persistent,  prosaic  and  perverse  nature 
of  ordinarj^  mortals.  If  Mr.  IMahin  had  been  asked  whether 
his  slashing  assertions  applied  to  such  men  as  Judge  Francis 
Springer,  Fitz  Henry  Warren,  J.  B.  Howell,  R.  L.  B.  Clarke, 
Thomas  Drummond  and  James  Thorington,  some  of  Iowa's 
Republican  delegates  to  the  first  convention  at  Philadelphia, 
doubtless,  like  most  radical  reformers,  he  would  have  promptly 
rejoined — certainly  not,  such  men  were  exceptions  and  merely 
prove  the  rule.^ 

The  same  theme  elicited  an  extended  expression  from  a 
Democratic  partizan,  Mr.  Zieback,  editor  of  The  Register  of 
Sioux  Cit3^  He  too  regarded  the  customs  and  procedure  in 
selecting  the  national  candidate  with  strong  disfavor,  not  to 
say  disgust.  Strong  men  and  staunch  leaders  make  too  many 
enemies  to. secure  the  prizes  of  nomination.  "Availability" 
has  the  right  of  way  among  and  with  politicians.  Amiable 
nobodies,  "obscure  Grenerals"  and  "sociable  pathfinders"  are 
selected.  Greeley's  "patent"  for  curing  the  evils  he  contem- 
plates with  rather  cynical  feelings.  Outlining  the  method  of 
procedure  thereunder  he  says:  "He  [Greeley]  would  have 
every  state  vote  for  its  favorite  candidate — Ohio  for  Chase, 
New  Hampshire  for  Hale,  Illinois  for  Lincoln,  and  so  on,  .  .  " 
But  he  thinks  that  the  "legerdemain"  of  such  politicians  as 
Weed  and  Greeley  would  defeat  the  popular  will  under  such 
a  plan.  He  closes  with  expressing  the  hope  that  Seward  and 
Douglas  be  the  nominees  of  the  two  parties  because  they  best 

iThe  six  mentioned  above  constituted  one-half  of  the  delegation  from 
Iowa  to  the  convention  at  Philadelphia. 


34  IOWA  AND  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

represent  the  distinctive  policies  of  the  respective  parties  on 
the  slavery  question/ 

Both  desire  and  opinion  respecting  the  Presidency  among 
the  Republicans  of  Iowa  at  the  close  of  1858,  it  is  clear,  were 
incoherent,  indefinite,  vague.  The  consideration  of  candidates 
was  not  deemed  urgent  or  wise  because  premature.  The  sit- 
uation had  become  more  definite,  however.  A  figure  was  loom- 
ing large  in  the  political  horizon.  The  entire  country  was 
becoming  conscious  of  his  remarkable  strength  and  propor- 
tions and  commanding  influence.  The  political  leaders  for 
some  time  had  had  to  reckon  with  Abraham  Lincoln.  The 
papers  of  the  east  no  less  than  those  of  the  west  had  ex- 
tensively^ reported  his  speeches  and  quoted  his  pithy  sayings. 
The  votes  he  had  received  in  1856  for  the  nomination  for 
the  Vice-Presidency  signified  a  much  wider  and  more  decidea 
political  acquaintance  with  Lincoln  than  most  of  our  chron- 
iclers have  realized.  Speaking  at  Litchfield,  Maine,  ]\lr.  James 
G.  Blaine,  on  June  28,  1856,  referred  to  Lincoln's  "reputa- 
tion beyond  the  lines  of  his  own  state"  gained  by  his  acute 
discussions  of  Douglas'  course  in  securing  the  repeal  of  the 
^Missouri  Compromise.-  Before  the  celebrated  debates  were 
arranged  for  Greeley  said  of  the  Springfield  speech,  which  he 
printed  entire  in  the  Tribune  (June  24)  ;  "We  need  not  a.sk 
attention  to  this  concise  and  admirable  statement.  Mr.  Lin- 
coln never  fails  to  make  a  good  speech  if  he  makes  any  and 
this  is  one  of  his  best  efforts."  Such  language  is  not  used  of 
"an  unknown."  In  July  that  year  the  Chicago  editors  were 
surprised  to  find  the  eastern  press  discussing  and  quot- 
ing his  speeches.'^  One  finds  that  the  editors  of  Iowa  were 
likewise  alive  to  the  marked  attention  paid  to  Lincoln  in  the 
press  of  the  eastern  States.  The  Gate  City  (Aug.  30)  cites  the 
Louisville  Journal,  "the  leading  American  paper  of  the 
country"  which  expresses  admiration  of  Lincoln's  "superior 
talents  and  noble  nature"  and  bespeaks  for  him  success;  and 
also  the   St.   Louis   Evening   News,   "the  leading   American 


^The  Register,  Dec.  2,  1858. 

"Blaine,  Political  Discussions,  p.  4. 

^Nicolay  &  Hay — Abraham  Lincoln,  Vol.  II.  p.  176. 


THE  REPUBLICAN  PRELIMINARIES  OP   1860  35 

organ  of  Missouri"  that  endorses  tlie  sentiments  of  the 
Journal.  The  Hawk-eye  (Oct.  8)  reprints  a  letter  written 
from  Illinois  to  the  Rochester  (N.  Y.)  Democrat,  recounting 
the  striking  differences  in  the  speeches  of  Lincoln  and  Doug- 
las to  the  advantage  of  the  former.  After  the  result  of  the 
election  in  Illinois  was  known  and  it  was  realized  that  by 
reason  of  an  unfair  apportionment  Lincoln  fell  short  of  offi- 
cial success  but  won  popular  success  one  encounters  frequent 
laudatory  references  to  Douglas'  opponent.  Thus  The  Gate 
City  quotes  (Nov.  22)  the  Rochester  Democrat:  "Mr.  Lin- 
coln has  won  a  reputation  as  a  statesman  and  orator  which 
eclipses  that  of  Douglas  as  the  sun  does  the  twinklers  of  the 
sky.  The  speeches  made  during  the  Illinois  campaign  have 
been  read  with  great  interest  throughout  the  country  ..." 
Reprinting  (Nov.  23)  an  extract  from  the  same  article,  Mr. 
Mahin  closed  his  quotation  with  the  sentence:  "The  Repub- 
licans of  the  Union  will  rejoice  to  do  honor  to  the  distinguished 
debater  of  Illinois."  On  Nov.  30  Mr.  Howell  gives  his 
readers  the  great  Greeley 's  opinion  of  Lincoln 's  speeches : 
".  .  .  they  were  of  a  very  high  order — the}'  were  pungent 
without  bitterness,  powerfid  without  harshness.  The  address 
at  Springfield  in  which  he  opened  the  canvass  is  a  model  of 
compactness,  lucidity  and  logic.  As  a  condensed  statement  of 
the  issues  which  divide  the  Republicans  from  the  Democrats 
of  our  day,  it  has  rarely,  or  never  been  exceeded. ' '  This  high 
praise,  it  must  be  remembered,  came  from  no  willing  witness 
— Greeley  had  strongly  opposed  the  Republican  opposition 
to  Douglas. 

In  the  south  meantime  expressions  much  more  significant 
were  being  made.  The  southern  press  and  leaders  were  out- 
spoken in  their  sentiments  hostile  to  Douglas  whose  position  at 
Freeport  had  shown  the  fatal  weakness  of  their  much  prized 
doctrine  of  Popular  Sovereignty.  The  intellectual  acumen 
of  his  antagonist  who  had  so  successfully  forced  its  doughty 
champion  to  make  his  fatal  admission  was  of  necessity  felt 
if  not  always  formally  recognized.  Such  recognition  was 
constantly  manifested  by  their  joint  condemnation,  and  the 
Iowa  press  was  not  unmindful  of  its  significance.     Thus  Mr. 


36  IOWA  AND  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

Howell  quotes  (Nov.  27)  from  Jefferson  Davis'  speech  to 
his  constituents  in  Mississippi,  when  he  said  that  he  "consid- 
ered Mr.  Douglas'  opinions  as  objectionable  as  those  of  his 
adversary,  Mr.  Lincoln."^  Douglas  himself  continued  to 
force  the  public  to  recognize  the  pre-eminent  abilities  of  his 
great  antagonist.  He  started  upon  his  southern  tour  which 
he  planned  with  a  view  to  placating  the  hostile  friends  of  the 
Administration  in  the  south.  His  speeches  at  Memphis  and 
New  Orleans  were  little  less  than  earnest  pleas  in  mitigation  of 
the  Freeport  answers  and  Lincoln  was  referred  to  directly  by 
him  in  those  discouifses.  But  a  more  decided,  not  to  say  dramat- 
ic, appreciation  of  the  tremendous  damage  done  the  Demo- 
cratic party  and  the  Slavocraey  by  the  Illinois  lawyer  was 
the  summary  deposition  at  the  opening  of  Congress  of  Stephen 
A.  Douglas  from  the  chairmanship  of  the  Senate  committee 
on  Territories,  a  position  he  had  held  for  eleven  years  and 
which  he  had  made  famous  or  infamous  in  their  service  in 
connection  with  the  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise. 

All  these  things  were  noted  in  Iowa  as  elsewhere  and  the 
people  no  less  than  the  politicians  were  becoming  aware  that 
Illinois  had  a  dominating  man — dominant  because  he  pos- 
sessed not  only  a  profound,  far-seeing  mind,  but  wonderful 
powers  of  compelling  speech.  As  Mr.  Teesdale  put  it  in  his 
comments  upon  the  outcome  of  the  debates :  "Lincoln  . 
has  achieved  a  reputation  second  to  that  of  few  men  now  in 
public  life.  In  all  that  marks  a  statesman,  he  has  proven  him- 
self more  than  a  match  for  Douglas;  and  he  has  linked  him- 
self to  the  fortunes  of  the  Republicans  by  hooks  of  steel.  The 
name  of  Lincoln  will  be  a  household  word  for  years  to  come. 
He  has  a  brilliant  future."-  King  makers  could  ask  for  no 
more  favorable  conditions  than  those  which  confronted  the 
friends  and  admirers  of  Abraham  Lincoln  at  the  close  of  1858. 


iSee  The  Gate  City,,'So\.  29,  1858— Editorial  on  Senator  Douglas  in  the 
South. 

The  Muscatine  Journal  on  June  4  quoted  the  foUowing  from  the  Montgom- 
ery (Ala.)  Mail  of  May  21  relative  to  the  reception  of  Douglas  in  that  city: 

"The  Squatter  Giant— S.  A.  Douglas,  the  great  advocate  of  Squatter 
Sovereignty,  arrived  here  yesterday,  in  the  eastern  train,  and  went  down  in 
the  steamer  in  the  afternoon.  A  few  persons  hunted  him  up  to  take  a  look  at 
him  as  they  would  a  grizzly  bear,  but  there  was  no  welcome.  Why  should 
there  be,  of  the  great  assassin  of  the  South?" 

^The  loica  Weekly  Citizen,  Nov.   17,   1858. 


THE  REPUBLICAN  PRELIMINARIES  OF  1860  37 

II.     Expressions  and  Maneuvers  in  1859. 

The  mutinous  disturbances  in  the  ranks  of  the  Democratic 
party  incident  to  and  following  the  Lincoln-Douglas  debates 
naturally  increased  public  interest  in  the  presidential  succes- 
sion. There  was  exhibited  in  the  country  at  large,  alike  in  the 
Democratic  and  Republican  papers,  signs  of  a  growing  feeling 
that  the  dissensions  within  the  "Administration"  reflected 
irreconcilable  differences  respecting  Slavery — differences  so 
serious  that  they  would  inevitably  drive  either  the  northern 
or  the  southern  wing  of  the  Democratic  party  into  irretrievable 
insurrection  or  opposition.  Coincident  with  this  disintegra- 
tion of  the  party  in  power  there  were  obvious  drifts  indicat- 
ing a  concentration  and  coalescence  of  the  sundry  groups  of 
the  Opposition.  Abolitionists  and  Americans,  German-Ameri- 
cans and  AVhigs,  contradictory  and  divergent  though  their 
antecedents,  affiliations  and  purposes  were,  saw  or  were  begin- 
ning to  feel,  that  the  aggressions  and  arrogance  of  the  Slavo- 
crats  within  and  without  Congress  made  Slavery — its  exten- 
sion or  extinction — the  paramount  fact  in  public  debate. 
They  were  becoming  conscious  of  the  fact  that  the  principles 
of  the  Republican  party  afforded  them  a  fairly  satisfactory 
common  ground  for  concentration  and  concert  in  opposition.^ 

The  signs  in  Iowa  in  1859  of  interest  in  the  Presidential 
succession  and  particularly  the  selection  of  the  Republican 
candidate  while  definite  were  not  numerous.     Readers  of  the 


iThe  headings  of  editorials  in  the  press  of  Iowa  and  the  titles  of 
articles  reprinted  from  eastern  and  southern  papers  during  the  last  quar- 
ter of  185  8  and  the  first  half  of  1859  afford  ample  and  interesting  evi- 
dence justifying  the  assertions  above.  The  columns  of  The  Daily  Uawk- 
Eye   of   Burlington   suffice   for   illustration : 

Tlie  dissensions  in  the  Democratic  party  are  dwelt  upon  in  an  extended 
article  reprinted  Nov.  5,  1858,  from  the  Cincinnati  Gazette,  entitled 
"Democracy  going  to  Pieces — South  Indignant  at  their  Northern  Allies 
and  Repudiating  their  Fellowship"  ;  Nov.  18,  by  two  and  a  quarter  col- 
umns devoted  to  a  reprint  of  portions  of  a  speech  by  Senator  Hammond 
of  South  Carolina;  Nov.  27,  in  an  article — "The  Northern  Democracy — 
Where  is  it  and  What  will  it  be?"  taken  from  the  Cincinnati  Gazette  and 
in  a  long  extract  from  the  speech  of  Jefferson  Davis  at  Jackson,  Missis- 
sippi;  Dec.  20,  in  a  reprint  from  the  Gazette  on  "Senator  Douglas  and  his 
Political  Patchwork"  ;  Dec.  31,  in  a  bitter  extract  from  The  Mississippian 
of  Jackson,  Miss.,  anent  Douglas'  visit  to  the  South;  Jan.  10,  1859,  in 
Correspondence,  entitled  "Virginia  Politics  and  Republican  Proclivities" 
taken  from  the  N.  Y.  Times;  Jan.  20,  in  a  reprint  of  Correspondence  of  the 
N.  Y.  Post,  entitled  "What  is  Douglas  going  to  Do?"  anent  the  differ- 
ences with  his  colleagues  in  the  Senate ;  March  1,  in  a  dispatch  headed 
"New  Political  Division,"  etc.,  commenting  on  a  recent  speech  of  Douglas 
at  Washington ;  and  March  2,  in  an  editorial  with  the  title  "A  House 
Divided  Against  Itself,"    that   begins — "There    is   not  a  single   question   of 


38  IOWA  AND   ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

compact  and  rapid  narratives  of  the  biographers  of  Chase, 
Lincoln  and  Seward,  and  of  our  national  historians  that  relate 
the  chief  developments  of  the  pre-convention  campaign  among 
the  Republicans  will  suffer  some  surprise  at  the  dearth  of 
expression.  Editors  made  note  of  the  subject  infrequently. 
There  is  but  little  evidence  of  either  individual  or  local  prefer- 
ences as  regards  candidates.  Expressions  relative  to  the  prin- 
ciples and  policies  were  more  explicit  and  insistent ;  but  there 
was  no  hue  and  cry.  Two  important  facts  must  be  appreciated 
in  order  to  realize  the  significance  of  the  meagre  evidence  of 
public  interest  in  loAva  in  the  Republican  preliminaries  of 
1860. 

1.     Important  Conditions  Determining  Expressions. 

First,  newspapers  were  not  numerous  on  this  side  of  the 
Mississippi.  Their  publication  was  not  only  an  expensive  and 
laborious  business,  but  their  maintenance  was  dependent,  in 
no  small  measure,  upon  the  favor  of  the  public  authorities, 
the  compensation  for  publishing  the  "Delinquent  Tax  List" 
being  their  major  source  of  income.  Typesetting  was  done  by 
hand.  Mergenthalers  and  linotype  machines,  pennydreadfuls 
and  "Extras"  dailv  were  inconceivable.   There  were  but  four 


importance  upon  which  the  Democratic  party  is  united — Not  one.  It  is 
divided  upon  the  tariff,  the  government  of  the  territories,  and  at  logger- 
heads on  the  nigger  question  generally.  .  .  .  The  Democratic  partv 
is  now  totally  'demoralized,'   to  use  the  language  of  the  N.    Y.  Herald. 

."     The    radiation    from    Lincoln's    speech   at    Springfield    in    June    is 
here  very  apparent. 

The  movements  indicating  coalescence  of  the  opposition,  the  advantages 
thereof,  and  the  necessity  therefor  are  liliewise  noted  and  discoursed  upon 
from  time  to  time;  Nov.  11,  1858,  the  editorials  of  the  N.  Y.  Tribune  and 
the  Springfield  (Mass.)  Republican  commenting  upon  the  "Triumph  of  Mr. 
Douglas"  in  Illinois  were  reprinted  at  length  ;  Nov.  22,  Greeley's  plan  for 
"uniting  the  opposition"  by  doing  away  with  conventions  is  given  ;  May 
12,  an  editorial  entitled  "IJnion  of  the  Opposition"  cites  from  the  N.  Y. 
Commercial  Advertiser;  May  23,  Greeiey's  "Appeal  to  Conservatives,"  is 
reprinted  ;  and  June  8,  portions  of  Greeley's  speech  "On  the  Presidential 
Prospects"  at  Ossawattamie,  Kan.  (May  18),  containing  his  advice  to 
work  for  a  coalition  is  reproduced.  During  the  remainder  of  the  year  most 
of  the  leading  editorials  of  The  Tribune  urging  a  union  of  the  opposition 
are  reproduced  in  the  columns  of  The  Hawk-Eye — usually,  however,  with- 
out  comment. 

The  writer  is  under  extraordinary  obligations  to  the  courtesy  and 
consideration  of  Mr.  W.  W.  Baldwin,  and  of  Mr.  J.  L.  Waite,  editor  of 
The  Haivk-Eye  for  the  foregoing  and  subsequent  citations  from  the  same 
journal. 


THE  REPUBLICAN  PRELIMINARIES  OF  1860  39 

telegraph  stations  in  the  State^  and  only  five  cities  (Dnbnque, 
Davenport,  ]\Inscatine,  Burlington  and  Keokuk)  could  boast 
of  daily  papers  published  continuously  throughout  the  year.- 
Editors,  consequently,  discussed  men  and  measures  under  a 
stress  of  multifarious  duties.  They  had  to  gather  news,  solicit 
advertisements  and  subscriptions,  beseech  and  enforce  collec- 
tions, often  do  "the  devil's  work,"  while  they  were  playing 
and  watching  the  game  of  politics.  If  under  such  circum- 
stances expressions  of  serious  and  well-ordered  opinions  by 
editors  were  infrequent,  if  the  manifestations  of  interest  in 
the  issues  of  the  approaching  Presidential  struggle  were 
meagre  and  more  or  less  indefinite  the  fact  by  no  means  signi- 
fies an  absence  of  alert,  intelligent  interest  among  editors  and 
their  patrons. 

The  second  basic  fact  to  be  reckoned  with  was  the  circula- 
tion of  The  New  York  Tribune  in  Iowa.  That  paper'  was  by 
far  the  greatest  purveyor  of  news  in  the  State.  No  local  paper 
possessed  anything  like  its  range  and  force  of  influence.  Its 
power  was  exerted  mainly  perhaps  outside  rather  than  within 
the  cities.  In  many,  if  not  in  most  rural  communities  the 
postmasters  handled  more  Weekly  Tribunes  than  all  other  for- 
eign papers  combined.  The  homes  of  regular  subscribers  were 
much  patronized  by  neighbors  not  subscribers.  Men  of  means 
frequently  made  gratuitous  subscriptions  as  gifts  to  nearby 
friends  or  neighbors.  To  the  tillers  of  the  soil  its  columns 
headed  "Important  to  the  Farmers"  contained  nearly  all  the 
law  and  the  prophets.  Fields  were  plowed;  corn,  wheat  and 
trees  were  planted ;  stock  housed  and  fed  and  crops  garnered 
according  to  the  directions  of  "Uncle  Horace."  In  the  ani- 
mated discussions  at  house  and  barn  raisings,  at  threshings, 
and  husking  bees,  at  barbecues,  singing  and  spelling  schools, 
at  "shoots"  and  rallies,  his  columns  were  constantly  appealed 
to  for  facts  and  arguments  as  well  as  for  news.  Pioneers,  in 
their  reminiscences  of  ante  bellum  days  are  not  always  quite 
certain  whether  Greeley's  Tnbune  or  the  Bible  had  precedence 


liV.  Y.  Tribune  (s.  w.)  Oct.  14,  1859:  A  Chicago  dispatch  giving  the 
returns  from  the  recent  election  in  Iowa  and  explaining  the  delay  thereof. 

'^The  citizens  of  Des  Moines  enjoyed  a  Daily  during  the  sessions  of  the 
General  Assembly,   viz. :   once  in  two   years. 


40  IOWA  AND  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

in  the  family  circle.^  In  the  forepart  of  1859  the  reported 
number  of  subscribers  in  Iowa  was  stated  to  be  7.523-  and  a 
year  later  the  number  had  increased  to  11.000.''  Its  circle 
of  readers  at  the  later  date  doubtless  embraced  100,000  persons 
from  whom  its  influence  constantly  radiated.  The  actual  cir- 
culation of  local  dailies  or  weeklies  probably  in  no  case 
exceeded  a  third  of  Greeley's  weekly.* 

In  demonstrating  the  development  of  party  opinion  in  Iowa 
respecting  the  best  selection  for  the  Republican  party's  can- 
didate for  the  Presidency  in  1860.  it  is  necessary  to  indicate 
the  antecedent  attitude  of  the  party  spokesmen  towards  the 
principles  that  were  to  make  up  the  party  platform.  The  drift 
of  sentiment  as  to  the  principles  of  administrative  policy  in 
the  nature  of  the  case  largely  decides  the  course  of  party 
leaders  in  the  selection  of  the  standard  bearer.  The  candidate 
is  to  be  the  executive  of  the  principles  adopted.  Consequently 
he  must  be  a  man  representative  of  and  in  sympathy  wnth 
those  principles.  Hence,  in  what  succeeds,  considerable  atten- 
tion will  be  given  to  the  trend  of  discussion  of  the  program  for 
the  Republican  party  in  1860. 

In  tracing  the  growth  of  opinion  in  the  party  press  one 
frec[uently  suffers  from  perplexity.  It  is  not  easy  always  to 
determine  the  significance  of  news  items,  editorial  expressions 
and  particularly  of  the  reprint  of  articles  from  eastern  and 
southern  contemporaries.  Editors,  like  most  mortals,  labor 
under  personal  and  partizan  bias.  Local  associations  and 
prejudices  arising  in  business,  church,  politics  and  social  con- 
nections, in  the  main,  predispose  and  fix  opinions  and  control 


^The  writer's  authority  for  the  statements  above  consists  chiefly  of 
correspondence  and  interviews  with  pioneers — notably  with  Professor  Jesse 
Macy  of  Iowa  College  at  Grinnell  and  with  the  late  George  C.  Duffield 
of  Keosauqua. 

-X.  Y.  Tribune   (s.  w.)  April  26,  1S59. 

Hoioa  State  Register  (Des  Moines)   April  18,  1860. 

^Noting  the  circulation  of  the  N.  Y.  Tribune  in  March,  1859,  The  Haiok- 
Eye  observed :  "There  is  no  paper  printed  in  the  State  of  Iowa  that  has 
half  the  circulation  of  The  Tribune  within  the  State."      (April  29,   1859.) 

Mr.  Will  Porter,  editor  of  the  Democratic  paper.  The  Journal,  published 
at  Des  Moines  between  1856  and  1860,  informs  the  writer  that  in  1859 
by  extra  efforts  and  special  inducements  he  secured  for  his  paper  during  the 
political  campaign  a  circulation  of  approximately  4,000,  which  was  the 
high  watermark  up  to  that  time.  That  circulation  was  extraordinary, 
however,  lasting  only  during  the  campaign.  The  circulation  of  his  Re- 
publican rival.  The  Citizen,  as  he  recalls,  ranged  from  1,500  to  2,000. 
Interview  with  Mr.   Porter,  Des  Moines,   ..ov.   17,   1908. 


THE  REPUBLICAN  PRELIMINARIES  OF  1860  41 

actions.  Items  are  "run"  and  articles  are  reprinted  usually 
as  matters  of  news  simply  as  indices  to  the 'direction  of  cur- 
rents of  popular  interest.  Sometimes,  however,  they  are 
inserted  and  "headed"  with  set  purpose  and  design  to 
influence  public  opinion  pro  or  con,  as  regards  approaching 
party  decisions  on  matters  of  policy  or  procedure.  Moreover, 
editors  frequently  express  opinions  in  their  editorial  columns 
that  indicate  what  they  would  prefer  to  have  and  hope  to  see 
realized,  rather  than  what  they  as  a  matter  of  fact  really 
expect  will  come  to  pass.  In  the  narrative  w^hich  follows  the 
editors  cited  for  the  most  part  express  their  views  in  their  own 
words. 

2.     First  Expressions  Respecting  Party  Principles  and 

Candidates. 

The  first  expression  in  the  press  of  Iowa  in  1859  respecting 
the  campaign  in  1860  was  elicited  by  one  of  the  suggestions 
of  the  Neiv  York  Tribune.  In  the  second  week  of  December^ 
Greeley  had  proposed  that  the  Republicans  should  nominate 
a  candidate  for  Vice-President  and  the  non-Republican  oppo- 
sition should  nominate  the  head  of  the  ticket — the  only  condi- 
tion being  that  the  nominee  should  definitely  favor  the  restric- 
tion of  slavery  to  the  States  then  occupied.  The  Louisville 
Journal  demurred  and  submitted  a  counter  proposal — both 
wings  of  the  opposition  should  assemble  in  Washington  in 
separate  conventions  in  the  summer  of  1860,  the  non-Republi- 
can opposition  to  engage  to  present  a  candidate  for  the  Presi- 
dency on  whom  all  could  unite  and  the  Republicans  to  do  the 
same  with  respect  to  the  second  place — one  whom  all  could 
"support  with  zeal  and  propriety."  In  outlining  these  pro- 
posals to  his  readers  Mr.  Hildreth  observed  (January  13)  : 
"It  is  plain  that  the  time  has  not  yet  come  for  the  difi'erent 
wings  of  the  opposition  to  'compare  notes'  with  a  view  to 
selecting  a  Presidential  candidate.  But  ingenious  men  will 
exercise  their  talents  in  this  line  and  their  efforts  may  be 
of  some  use  in  affording  glimpses  of  the  state  of  public  senti- 


W.  Y.  Tribune  (s.  w.),Dec.  10,  1858. 


42  IOWA  AND  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

ment."  Concluding  he  makes  the  interesting  assertion:  "It 
has  been  assumed  that  the  extreme  abolition  sentiment  would 
bring  into  nomination  Senator  Seward  for  President  and 
F.  P.  Stanton,  the  Kansas  ex-Secretary  and  ex-Acting  Gov- 
ernor, for  Vice-President;  but  the  declaration  of  Mr.  Stanton, 
that  Mr.  Seward's  extraordinary  platform  [Rochester  speech] 
can  find  no  endorsement  from  the  people,  condemns  that 
theory."^  At  that  time  Mr.  Hildreth,  "down  east"  Yankee 
though  he  was,  did  not  look  with  favor  upon  the  nomination  of 
the  author  of  the  Rochester  speech. 

A  Aveek  later  under  "Notes  From  AVashington"  Mr.  Hil- 
dreth reprints  portions  of  the  correspondence  of  the  Cincin- 
nati Enquirer  (an  Administration  paper),  stating  that  "Sena- 
tor Seward  and  Governor  Chase  are  the  most  talked  of  as  the 
candidates  for  the  Presidency  among  the  Republicans.  But 
F.  P.  Blair,  Sr.,  is  ardent  for  Colonel  Fremont,  who,  with 
Frank  Blair  of  IMissouri  for  the  Vice-Presidency  the  corre- 
spondent is  inclined  to  think  will  prevail  in  the  convention.  "- 
And  in  his  next  issue  he  notes  that  "a  quarrel  is  going  on 
among  the  Republican  members  there  (Washington)  ;  a  por- 
tion desire  to  take  up  the  Douglas  popular  sovereignty  doc- 
trine, abandoning  direct  opposition  to  slavers,  and  invite  the 
Douglas  men,  and  southern  as  well  as  northern  Americans  to, 
join  them.  Eli  Thayer,  of  Mass.,  is  one  of  the  prominent  advo- 
cates of  this  plan."^  Two  weeks  later  he  notes  that  a  political 
club  has  been  formed  to  promote  the  candidacy  of  John  M. 
Botts  of  Virginia  for  the  Opposition's  choice  for  standard 
bearer  in  I860.*  About  the  same  time  the  editors  of  The 
Montezuma  WceMij  BepuMican  make  note  of  the  assertion 
of  the  New  York  Times  that  "a  new  Republican  movement" 
was  under  way  that  "may  command  attention.  It  is  to  make 
Colonel  Fremont  again  the  candidate,  putting  upon  the  ticket 
some  live  southern  or  southwestern  man,  like  Blai]'  of  Mis- 
souri, who  has  ability,  political  courage  and  the  advantage;  of 
living  in  a  Slave  State.  "^ 


^St.    Charles   Intelligencer,   Jan.    13,    ir59, — Editorial    "Presidential    Dis- 
cussions." 

"lb.  Jan.  20,  1859.     ^Ib.  Jan.  27,  1859.     "/&.  Feb.    10,   1S59. 

^The  Montezuma  Weekly  Republican.  Jan.   20,   1859. 


THE  REPUBLICAN  PRELIMINARIES  OF  1860  43 

The  first  extended,  explicit  and  serious  expression  relative 
to  the  approaching  Presidential  contest  came  from  Burlington 
from  the  pen  of  Mr.  Clark  Dunham,  editor  of  The  Daily 
Eawk-Eye.  On  March  5,  discussing  ' '  The  Issue  of  1860, ' '  he 
observed  that  no  intelligent  man  could  "fail  to  see"  that  "a 
very  important  crisis"  was  approaching. 

There  is  but  one  question  at  issue  .  .  .  and  that  is  the  Negro 
question.    To  this  question  there  can  be  but  two  parties. 

On  one  side  we  have  the  party  of  Slavery,  headed  by  vigilant, 
active,  determined  and  desperate  leaders,  whose  voice  has  hereto- 
fore ruled  Congress.  ...  If  they  fail  in  this  [the  extension  of 
Slavery]  they  will  do  their  utmost  to  bring  about  a  dissolution  of 
the  Union  and  erect  the  Slave  States  into  a  Southern  Republic. 

On  the  other  side  the  Republican  party  holds  that  Slavery  is  a 
creature  of  law,  freedom  being  the  normal  condition  of  all  men — 
that  the  Dred  Scott  decision  is  in  violation  of  the  constitution, 
policy  of  our  government  and  spirit  of  our  institutions,  extra- 
judicial and  therefore  not  binding — that  Slavery  has  no  legal  exist- 
ence outside  of  Slave  States.  That  neither  the  Congress  of  the 
United  States  nor  the  people  of  the  territories,  deriving  their  powers 
from  Congress,  can  enact  Slave  laws  for  the  territories  .  .  . 

This  is  the  issue  before  the  country,  and  it  is  such  an  issue,  so 
clearly  defined,  that  there  can  be  no  third  party. 

Three  facts  stand  out  in  Mr.  Dunham's  editorial  that  are 
observable  in  much  of  the  discussion  of  the  period.  First, 
Slavery  was  believed  to  be  foremost  in  the  public  mind  as  to 
which  there  could  be  (decry  the  necessity  as  many  did,  never 
so  much)  but  two  opinions  and  but  two  courses  to  folloAV.  It 
was  the  iron  wedge  on  which  all  other  matters  split.  Second, 
the  terrible  earnestness  of  the  Slavocrats  and  their  willingness 
to  proceed  to  desperate  measures  to  accomplish  their  program 
is  clearly  apprehended.  Third,  there  appears  an  obvious  but 
little  appreciated  contradiction  in  the  attitude  of  the  Repub- 
licans towards  the  question  of  Slavery — Slavery  was  declared 
to  be  a  creature  of  law,  but  the  application  of  the  doctrine 
under  the  Dred  Scott  decision  is  pronounced  extra-judicial 
and  subversive  of  the  constitution. 

During  March  the  King-makers  became  active  and  vocal. 
In  the  latter  part  of  the  month  the  Republican  press  of  St. 
Louis  announced  Edward  Bates  as  a  candidate  for  the  Presi- 


44  IOWA  AND  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

dency,  asking  his  nomination  by  the  National  Republican  Con- 
vention. Formal  measures  were  taken  to  place  him  before  the 
public  and  to  promote  his  candidacy.  The  majority  of  the 
papers  in  Iowa,  if  they  recognized  it  at  all,  merely  made  note 
of  the  announcement  as  a  matter  of  news  without  comment,  or 
with  a  collateral  quotation  of  some  favorable  opinion  of  those 
favoring  his  candidacy.^  Mr.  Dunham,  hoAveVer,  expressed 
in  plump,  brief  fashion  an  objection  to  the  announcement — ■ 
but  gave  no  hint  as  to  his  real  attitude  towards  Mr.  Bates. 
Commenting  upon  the  effort  of  the  Evening  News  of  St. 
Louis  at  "president  making"  he  bluntly  declared:  "This  is 
premature.  It  is  too  early  yet  to  discuss  the  merits  of  candi- 
dates. And  the  success  of  ]\Ir.  Bates  and  other  aspirants 
depends  a  good  deal  on  their  being  kept  out  of  the  fight  for 
some  time  to  come. ' '-  Two  days  later  he  reprints  the  remarks 
of  Dr.  Bailev  of  the  National  Era  commending  Salmon  P. 
Chase  as  a  suitable  standard  bearer  for  the  Republicans  in 
1860.^  A  month  later  Mr.  Ilildreth  referring  to  the  Bates 
letter  said:  "His  prospects  for  a  nomination  for  the  Presi- 
dency by  the  Republicans  are  not  inferior  to  those  of  any 
statesman  named.  If  nominated,  he  would  most  assuredly  be 
elected."* 

The  most  interesting  editorial  item  discoverable  in  March 
was  the  following  from  Mr.  Mahin's  columns:  "The  Chicago 
Democrat  strongly  urges  the  nomination  of  Abe  Lincoln  for 
the  Vice-Presidency  by  the  Republican  party,  and  thinks  the 
ticket  had  better  be  headed  by  some  southern  man.  It  says: 
'We  think  it  would  aid  us  materially  in  establishing  a 
national  position,  if  we  could  run  some  southern  man  for  the 
Presidency  with  Mr.  Lincoln  for  Vice-President.'  The  Bock- 
ford  EepuMican  takes  the  same  ground."^ 

In  INIarch  Mr.  John  Teesdale,  editor  of  The  Weekly  Citizen 
published  at  the  State  capital,  visited  Ohio  in  which  State  he 
had  been  influential  as  an  editor  and  as  a  politician  for  twenty 


^See    The    Gate   City,  April    5,    1859.      See   also    The  Daveyiport   Weekly 
Gazette,  April  28,  1859  ;  The  Keosauqua  Weekly  Republican,  April  9,  1859. 

''The  Daily  Hawk-Eye,  April   14,    1859. 

3/b.  April   16,   1859. 

*St.  Charles  Intelligencer,  May  12,   1859. 

^The  Muscatine  Daily  Journal,  March  29,    1859. 


THE  REPUBLICAN  PRELIMINARIES  OF  1860  45 

years  (1837-1856),  being  between  1844-46  Private  Secretary 
to  Governor  Bartley.  While  renewing  old  acquaintances,  poli- 
tics and  the  prospects  of  candidates  for  the  Presidency  were 
subjects  of  earnest  inquiry.  lie  sought  to  learn  the  drift  and 
force  of  the  currents  there  and  Ohioans  besought  information 
as  to  the  probable  course  of  party  preferences  in  Iowa.  On  his 
return  to  Des  Moines  he  set  forth  (April  13)  his  views  at 
some  length  vmder  the  caption,  "Iowa  and  the  Presidency." 
Mr.  Teesdale  at  the  time  was  State  Printer  and  his  paper  was 
in  a  sense  an  official  organ.  At  least  his  views  were  likely  to 
differ  but  little  from  what  he  would  regard  as  the  prevalent 
opinion  among  the  dominant  men  of  his  party  as  represented 
by  the  men  holding  official  positions.  His  editorial  is  quoted 
at  length. 


't^' 


Frequently  during  our  absence  from  the  State  we  were  interro- 
gated as  to  the  Presidential  preferences  of  Iowa.  We  uniformly 
answered  that  Iowa  would  be  for  the  Republican  nominee,  beyond 
the  shadow  of  a  doubt;  but  we  doubted  whether  any  man  could 
speak  authoritatively,  just  now,  as  to  her  Presidential  preferences. 
The  press, — which  usually  affords  unmistakable  evidence  of  the 
setting  of  the  public  current — has  thus  far  remained  silent  upon  the 
question  of  the  next  Presidency.  The  silence  Is  not  the  result  of 
indifference,  but  of  a  purpose  that  pervades,  as  we  believe,  the 
Republican  ranks  of  nearly  every  State,  viz.:  a  purpose  to  sink  all 
personal  predilections  in  an  effort  to  secure  a  candidate  whose  suc- 
cess will  be  beyond  question.  There  is  a  deep  and  strong  convic- 
tion that  the  next  President  will  be  a  Republican.  This  conviction 
gains  strength  daily,  with  the  increasing  evidence  of  the  disorganiza- 
tion and  demoralization  of  the  sham  Democracy.  Believing  that 
there  will  be  no  difficulty  in  electing  the  Republican  nominee,  if 
he  truly  represents  the  Republican  sentiment  of  the  country,  there 
is  an  all-pervading  conviction  that  the  nominee  should  be  a  man  who 
is  fully  and  fairly  identified  with  the  Republican  organization;  a 
man  who  has  been  tried;  a  man  who  has  a  national  reputation, 
and  who  can  be  trusted  in  all  possible  contingencies,  as  an  exponent 
of  the  friends  of  Freedom.  If  Iowa  had  the  making  of  the  Presi- 
dent, she  would,  we  believe,  confer  that  honor  upon  William  H. 
Seward,  the  peerless  statesman,  the  incorruptible  patriot.  But,  if 
in  deference  to  the  opinions  and  preferences  of  her  sister  States  it 
becomes  necessary  to  name  another  as  the  Republican  standard 
bearer  she  will  cheerfully  support  John  McLean,  Salmon  P.  Chase, 
Winfield  Scott,  John  C.  Fremont,  John  P.  Hale,  or  any  other  among 


46  IOWA  AND   ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

the  illustrious  men  who  have  attested  their  devotion  to  Republican 
principles.  If  a  Pennsylvania  candidate  is  needed,  there  is  no  man  in 
whose  behalf  she  would  so  cordially  attest  her  devotion,  as  Galusha 
A.  Grow.  John  Bell,  and  John  J.  Crittenden  have  a  host  of  friends  in 
Iowa,  but  before  a  union  could  be  effected  in  behalf  of  either  it  would 
be  necessary  to  know  that  they  fully  endorse  the  platform  adopted  by 
the  last  National  Republican  Convention. 

When  the  proper  time  comes,  Iowa  will  speak  out,  so  that  her 
personal  preferences  shall  be  understood;  but  her  personal  prefer- 
ences will  never  be  suffered  to  disturb  the  harmony  of  the  Repub- 
lican organization.  She  will  be  ready  to  fall  into  line  for  the  nomi- 
nee and  give  him  her  support  with  an  earnestness  that  will  not  per- 
mit her  to  be  regarded  as  debatable  ground.  At  present  there  seems 
to  be  no  urgent  necessity  for  agitating  the  Presidential  question. 
We  have  a  State  canvass  on  our  hands  which  we  mean  to  dispose  of 
before  devoting  much  space  to  the  next  Presidency.  National  ques- 
tions will  exert,  as  they  should,  a  powerful  influence  in  the  coming- 
State  election.  But  Presidential  preferences  will  have  very  little 
to  do  with  the  result. 

There  is  much  in  the  foregoing  that  anticipates  subsequent 
discussion.  First,  like  most  politicians  whose  experience  has 
been  sufficient  to  teach  prudence,  Mr.  Teesdale  did  not  believe 
there  was  much  benefit  in  crossing  streams  before  coming  to 
the  bridges.  Second,  while  he  had  decided  personal  prefer- 
ences in  respect  of  the  candidate,  he  would  not  stand  stoutly 
for  his  choice  and  none  other  regardless  of  contrary  considera- 
tions affecting  the  party's  success  at  the  polls.  Third,  he  was 
confident  there  was  but  little  of  the  "rule  or  ruin"  sentiment 
among  the  Republicans  of  the  State  with  respect  to  the  party's 
candidate.  Fourth,  an  alliance  with  the  non-Republican  Oppo- 
sition would  be  sanctioned  if  the  coalition  was  arranged  upon 
the  basis  of  an  explicit  concurrence  in  and  reaffirmation  of  the 
principles  of  the  Philadelphia  platform.  Fifth,  the  doubtful 
States  should  determine  the  choice,  if  thereby  victory  would  be 
rendered  more  probable. 

Two  days  later  (April  15)  there  came  a  vigorous  pro- 
noimcement  from  Muscatine.  Shortly  before,  the  Opposition 
party  in  Tennessee  had  held  a  convention,  adopted  a  State 
platform,  and  had  put  forward  John  Bell  as  a  candidate  for 
the  Presidency  in  1860,  believing  him  to  be  one  about  whom  all 
could  rallv  in  a  common  struggle  to  dislodge  the  Administra- 


THE  REPUBLICAN  PRELIMINARIES  OF   1860  47 

tion.  Mr.  Mahin  viewed  the  platform  as  the  draft  of  a  proto- 
col for  a  coalition,  reprinted  it  entire  and  proceeded  to  sub- 
ject its  proposals  to  some  sharp  criticism  under  the  caption 
"The  Opposition  in  Tennessee — Can  We  Coalesce  in  1860." 
It  was  a  "sandwich  platform"  in  his  judgment  and  he  gave 
it  short  shrift.  The  first  resolution  declaring  the  Union  "the 
surest  guaranty  of  the  rights  and  interests  of  all  sections"  he 
branded  as  the  "old  clap-trap,  dingy  generality"  which  had 
become  "familiar  of  late  years  as  the  heading  of  any  special 
rascality  which  its  author  wished  to  cover  up."  The  second 
proclaiming  "our  constitutional  rights"  as  regards  Slavery 
and  thereupon  insisting  that  the  people  in  new  territories 
"when  they  come  to  form  a  constitution  and  establish  a  State 
government  shall  decide  the  question  of  Slavery"  he  declared 
a  palpable  inconsistency,  being  merely  "the  Lecompton  Slave 
Trading  Democracy  dressed  up  in  Sunday  clothes. ' '  The  sec- 
tion advocating  "a  tariff  adequate  to  the  expenses  of  economi- 
cal administration  .  .  .  with  specific  duties  where  applica- 
ble, discriminating  in  favor  of  American  industries"  he  said 
pointedly  "meant  anything  or  nothing  according  to  the  sec- 
tion where  read."  The  plank  calling  for  a  "reasonable  exten- 
sion of  the  period  of  probation  now  prescribed  for  the  natural- 
ization of  foreigners  and  a  more  rigid  enforcement  of  the  law 
upon  the  subject"  he  asserted  was  alone  "sufficient  to  ensure 
[the]  prompt  and  contemptuous  rejection  [of  the  entire  plat- 
form] by  every  Republican."  Mr.  Mahin  concludes  his  edi- 
torial by  announcing  that  the  motto  of  the  northern  Republi- 
cans is — "No  coalition  and  no  compromises."^  A  week  later 
in  tendering  "A  "Word  of  Advice"  to  Republicans  relative 
to  amalgamation  Avith  "less  radical  elements"  he  said  "the 
Slavery  question  is  now  the  only  real  issue  between  the  two 
great  parties  of  the  country  and  it  therefore  behooves  us  to 
maintain  a  bold  and  decided  stand  upon  it."- 

Three  facts  are  noteworthy  in  Mr.  Mahin 's  expressions. 
First,  the  effect  of  Lincoln's  Freeport  questions  that  made 
juggling  with  "popular  sovereignty"  impossible,  is  realized. 
Second,  he  strikes  at  the  proposed  extension  of  the  probation- 

^The  Muscatine  Daily  Journal,  April  15,   1859. 
-lb.  April   21,    1859. 


48  IOWA  AND  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

ary  period  in  naturalization  with  vigor,  voicing  a  protest  that 
a  few  Aveeks  later  became  almost  universal  throughout  the 
northwest  States  when  the  Massachusetts  Amendment  set  the 
Germans  on  fire.  Third,  the  cardinal  fact  in  discussion,  the 
fact  that  could  not  be  ignored  or  minimized,  was  Slavery. 

The  announcement  of  Mr.  Bates  as  a  candidate  for  the 
Republican  nomination  for  the  Presidency  resulted  forthwith 
in  sundry  efforts  to  draw  from  him  by  way  of  interviews, 
letters  and  speeches,  expressions  of  his  views  on  the  issues  in 
debate.  Of  several  statements  made  by  him  the  most  serious 
was  an  extended  letter  to  a  committee  of  AVhigs  of  New  York 
City.  His  position  upon  the  subject  of  Slavery  was  virtually 
laissez  faire,  laissez  passer,  let  it  alone  and  enforce  the  law 
and  time  will  work  the  cure  of  the  iniquities  of  the  institution. 
His  statement,  although  conceded  to  be  "able  and  interest- 
ing, "did  not  strike  Mr.  Howell  of  Keokuk  favorably,  a  portion 
of  his  editorial  comment  being : 

The  nigger  question  he  spends  but  few  words  upon.  He  would 
ignore  it  altogether,  and  get  rid  of  it  by  leaving  it  alone.  But 
Mr.  Bates  should  have  sense  enough  to  see  that  it  is  so  linked  in 
with  the  rights  of  man  at  large,  and  the  interest  and  ambitions 
of  men  in  particular,  that  it  has  made  itself  conspicuous  and  can- 
not be  got  rid  of  by  not  looking  at  it  or  in  any  other  way  but 
some  sort  of  a  definite  and  satisfactory  settlement.  The  spirit  of 
Mr.  Bates'  letter  is  patriotic  and  sound  but  it  does  not  show  him  to  be 
such  a  plain-dealing  and  thorough-going  statesman  as  the  times 
demand.  It  is  futile  to  mention  his  name  again  in  connection  with 
the    Presidency.^ 

Mr.  J.  B.  Dorr's  reference  to  the  announcement  from  St. 
Louis  indicated  clearly  the  attitude  that  the  Democrats  would 
maintain  towards  the  candidacy  of  Mr.  Bates.  He  merely 
noted :  ' '  ]\Iany  of  the  Know-Nothing  organs  have  already 
hoisted  his  name  at  the  head  of  their  columns  and  some  of 
the  Republican  papers  have  done  the  same.  "- 

The  attitude  of  many,  if  not  a  majority,  of  experienced 
editors  and  party  leaders  towards  political  candidacies  is 
exhibited  in  clear  fashion  in  the  editorial  expressions  of  two 
influential  editors  in  central  eastern  Iowa  in  the  latter  davs 


^The  Gate  City,  April  21,  1859. 

2r7ie  Express  and  Herald  (Dubuque),  April  23,  1859. 


THE  REPUBLICAN  PRELIMINARIES  OF  1860  49 

of  April  respecting  two  prominent  Ohioans,  Salmon  P.  Chase 
and  Benjamin  F,  Wade.  Personal  preferences  and  party 
plans  and  success  may  coincide;  but  in  case  they  do  not,  the 
exigencies  of  a  political  contest  must  needs  prevail  over  the 
personal  inclination  of  the  admirers  and  friends  of  this  or 
that  aspirant  or  candidate.  Mr.  Add.  H.  Sanders,  editor  of 
The  Davenport  Gazette,  on  April  28,  declared  himself  as  fol- 
lows : 

We  are  glad  to  see  that  the  name  of  Gov.  Chase  is  becoming  inti- 
mately associated  in  public  discussion  with  the  next  nomination  of 
the  Republican  party  for  the  Presidency.  No  man  has  been  men- 
tioned in  connection  with  this  high  position,  as  the  candidate  of  a 
party  in  1860,  who  combines  in  himself  higher  qualifications  for  the 
position,  and  a  more  consistent  political  or  pure  personal  history 
than  Governor  Chase  .  .  . 

In  thus  speaking  of  Gov.  Chase  we  have  merely  availed  ourselves 
of  an  opportunity  of  expressing  opinion  of  a  man  who  in  every 
position  has  sustained  the  confidence  of  his  friends  and  his  own 
self-respect.  We  advocate  as  a  Republican  paper  the  claims  of  no 
man  for  the  nomination  of  the  next  Republican  National  Convention. 
We  have,  indeed,  heard  no  name  suggested  for  this  nomination  as 
a  Republican  candidate  for  the  Presidency  in  1860,  which  we  would 
not  cheerfully  support  and  with  that  zeal  which  ever  marks  our 
course  when  sustaining  good  men  backed  by  good  principles.  We 
believe,  however,  that  no  Republican  combines  greater  elements  of 
popularity  with  less  objectionable  qualities,  than  Gov.  Chase — in 
other  words,  that  no  Republican  would  make  a  better  race.  .  .  . 

Two  days  later  Mr.  S.  S.  Daniels,  editor  of  The  Tipton 
Advertiser,  discussing  "The  Next  Presidential  Contest"  said 
among  other  things : 

We  do  not  intend  to  discuss  the  merits  of  the  different  men  for 
the  office  of  President  and  are  willing  to  vote  for  any  of  the  men 
who  have  been  named  for  that  office.  At  the  same  time  we  would 
like  much  to  see  Hon.  Frank  Wade,  U.  S.  Senator  from  Ohio, 
brought  out  as  our  next  candidate.  Mr.  Wade  occupies  a  very 
favorable  position  before  the  American  people;  he  has  never  taken 
ultra  grounds,  while  he  has  ever  stood  up  for  the  right,  and  has  done 
it  in  such  a  way  that  none  have  ever  dared  to  oppose  him  as  they 
have  many  others.  Frank  Wade  is  excepted  when  wholesale  charges 
are  made  against  the  Republicans;  he  has  made  many  speeches  but 
they  were  all  good;  he  has  said  nor  done  nothing  which  will  injure 
him  in  any  way. 
4 


50  IOWA  AND  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

It  is  not  uninteresting  to  note  that  Messrs.  Sanders  and 
Daniels  were  both,  prior  to  coming  to  Iowa,  residents  of  Ohio, 
hence  doubtless  their  predilection  for  the  distinguished  sons 
of  that  State. 

3.     The  Reception  of  Greeley's  Suggestion  for  a  Coalition  of 

the  Opposition. 

Meantime  there  had  been  a  pronouncement,  as  it  were, 
ex  cathedra.  For  the  greater  part  of  two  years  the  New  York 
Tribune  had  been  urging,  with  a  view  to  the  contest  in  1860, 
the  elements  of  the  Opposition  to  pursue  a  policy  of  concilia- 
tion and  concession  relative  to  each  other,  to  combine  on 
matters  of  common  agreement  and  ignore  the  collateral  issues 
peculiar  to  gi'oups  or  sections,  however  important  they  might 
seem  to  them  severally,  but  which  were  minor  and  subsidiary 
as  respects  the  central  and  predominant  issue  and  if  urged 
would  make  for  dissension  and  defeat.  The  paramount 
demand  of  the  Opposition,  north  and  south,  was  the  main- 
tenance of  Freedom  in  the  non-slave  States  and  the  restriction 
of  Slavery  within  its  original  or  then  established  limits.  Vic- 
tory in  the  approaching  contest  depended  upon  the  dislodg- 
ment  of  Slavocracy  from  seats  of  authority  and  this  end  could 
not  be  achieved  except  by  concentration  and  simultaneous  for- 
ward movement  of  all  available  forces  in  a  common  attack. 
The  ambitions  of  leaders  were  immaterial  and  like  local  inter- 
ests and  particular  "isms"  should  and  must  give  way  to  the 
imperative  demands  of  the  situation.  Greeley  had  urged 
Republicans  to  support  Douglas  after  he  broke  with  the 
Administration  over  the  Lecompton  Constitution.  He  opposed 
the  candidacy  of  Lincoln  against  Douglas  for  the  Senate,  and 
during  the  debates  maintained  a  stubborn  editorial  silence. 
Immediatelj'  upon  their  conclusion  he  reiterated  his  belief 
that  wisdom  favored  his  original  suggestion,  lodging  some 
sharp  criticisms  against  Lincoln's  tactics  in  the  canvass.^ 
Thereafter,  at  short  intervals  he  renewed  his  contention  that  a 
coalition  was  imperative,   insisting  that  common   sense   and 

W.  Y.  Tritune  (w.),  Nov.  27,  1858. 


THE  REPUBLICAN  PRELIMINARIES  OF  1860  51 

prudence  enjoined  it.^  In  a  long  editorial  entitled  "The 
Presidency  in  1860,"  (April  26)  he  restated  the  grounds  for 
his  position.  "We  do  not  deem  it  necessary  again  to  contra- 
dict the  rumors  from  time  to  time  set  afloat  that  we  are 
laboring  to  nominate  and  elect  A,  B  or  C.  The  single  end 
we  keep  in  mind  is  the  triumph  of  our  principles  .... 
In  the  last  Presidential  contest  the  votes  of  the  American 
people  were  divided  as  follows : 

Buchanan,  1,838,232;  Fremont,  1,341,514;  Fillmore,  874,- 
707 ;  Fremont  and  Fillmore  over  Buchanan,  377,989. 

"Of  course  it  is  plain  that  a  substantial,  practical  union 
of  the  electors  who  supported  Fremont  and  Fillmore  respect- 
ively insures  a  triumph  in  1860,  even  though  there  should  be  a 
scaling  off  on  either  side,  as  there  possibly  would  be.  We  can 
afford  to  lose  one  hundred  thousand  of  the  Opposition  vote  in 
1856  and  still  carry  the  next  President  by  a  handsome  major- 
ity." After  pointing  out  that  there  was  no  essential  variance 
among  the  Wliigs  and  the  native  Americans  respecting  Slav- 
ery he  says  concerning  candidates :  ' '  ]Most  certainly  we 
should  prefer  an  original  Republican — Governor  Seward  or 
Governor  Chase — but  we  shall  heartily  and  zealously  support 
one  like  John  Bell,  Edward  Bates,  or  John  M.  Botts,  provided 
that  we  are  assured  that  his  influence,  his  patronage,  his 
power,  if  chosen  President  will  be  used  not  to  extend  Slavery 
but  to  confine  it  to  the  States  that  see  fit  to  uphold  it."  The 
editorial  closes  ^vith  the  words:  "When  speech  tends  to  irri- 
tate and  distract,  unspeakable  is  the  wisdom  of  silence." 

This  was  the  language  of  common  sense,  the  language  of 
men  who  canvass  their  experiences  and  are  governed  by  the 
lessons  which  they  enjoin  and  enforce.  But  sensible  though 
the  editorial  was,  its  suggestions  drew  forth  sharp  rejoinders. 
The  assertion  that  The  Tribune  would  heartily  support  Bell, 
Bates  or  Botts  at  once  aroused  the  Germans  of  Iowa  and 

iSee  lb.  (s.  w.),  "Union  of  the  Opposition,"  Dec.  10,  1858;  "The  Oppo- 
sition in  1860,"  Jan.  4,  1859  ;  "The  Presidency,"  Jan.  18.  In  tlie  latter  the 
charge  that  The  Tribune  is  opposing  Seward  is  denied. 

The  assumption  above  (and  subsequently)  that  Horace  Greeley  penned 
the  editorials  defining  the  attitude  of  The  Tribune  towards  the  Republican 
Presidential  nomination  may  be  subject  to  question,  as  Charles  A.  Dana 
was  Greeley's  alter  ego  and  frequently  had  entire  charge  of  that  paper. 
Nevertheless  there  seems  to  be  grounds  for  thinking  that  Greeley  probably 
struck  the  dominant  notes  and  gave  direction  to  the  editorial  policy. 
Dana,  however,  concurred  and  heartily  supported  his  chief.  See  Gen.  Jas. 
H.  Wilson's  Life  of  Charles  A.  Dana,  pp.   161-2. 


52  IOWA  AND   ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

thence  of  the  entire  country.  All  three  men  were  considered 
to  be  tainted  with  Know-Nothingism  by  reason  of  their  public 
support  of  Fillmore  in  1856  and  were  further  deemed  to  be  in 
close  association  with  the  leadei-s  of  the  American  party.  In 
the  furious  reaction  against  the  Massachusetts  Amendment 
that  ensued  in  the  next  three  months  the  Democrats  and  Ger- 
mans alike  cited  the  editorial  as  proof  of  their  contention  that 
the  Republicans  had  natural  affiliations  and  a  virtual  alliance 
with  the  anti-foreign  propagandists.^  Greeley's  insistence 
upon  a  coalition  of  the  entire  Opposition  on  the  basis  of  non- 
extension  of  Slavery  elicited  some  slashing  criticisms. 

On  the  same  day  Greeley's  editorial  appeared,  Mr.  Dunham 
gave  expression  to  sentiment  directly  in  conflict  with  the  major 
suggestion  of  The  Tribune.  On  April  22,  TJie  Press  and 
Tribun-e  of  Chicago  had  set  forth  what  it  deemed  the  correct 
position  for  the  Republican  party  to  take  in  the  campaign 
in  1860.  Commending  the  views  of  his  contemporary,  Mr. 
Dunham  observed:  "The  views  there  advanced  are  not 
entirely  original,  being  in  substance  those  advanced  by  Mr. 
Lincoln  in  the  late  senatorial  canvass,  and  more  recently 
by  Senator  Seward  in  his  great  speech  on  the  destiny  of  our 
country;  ..."  The  true  basis  for  the  Opposition,  he  con- 
tended, is  principle  and  not  the  petty  partizan  considerations 
that  masquerade  under  the  name  of  "policy."  But  in  the 
large  there  is  a  concurrence  of  principle  and  policy — a  fact 
that  discerning  statesmen  and  experienced  political  chiefs 
realize  and  aim  at  in  practical  politics.  The  Republican  party 
came  into  existence  because  it  placed  principles  and  rights 
before  expediency  and  Mammon;  and  its  strength  and  suc- 
cess in  the  approaching  contest  would  so  depend.  "As  a  party 
of  principle  ...  it  has  attained  its  present  high  position, 
and  shall  it  now  abandon  its  positive  existence,  animated  by 
strong  principles,  and  become  a  negative  party,  held  together 
only  by  the  spoils,  and  vainly  seeking  to  alter  its  course  to  suit 
every  trifling  circumstance.  Better,  always,  defeat  with 
honor,  than  victory  with  disgrace.     So-called  conservatives 


^See  writer's  detailed  account,   Annals  of  Iowa,   3d  Series,   Vol.    8,   pp. 
206-213. 


THE  REPUBLICAN  PRELIMINARIES  OF  1860  53 

over-fearful  of  what  is  termed  sectional,  and  trembling  at  the 
empty  threats  of  southern  fire-eaters,  are  apt  even  to  yield 
what  is  right,  forgetting  that  right  should  be  supported,  even 
though  it  be  sectional."  Greeley's  contention  that  the  Oppo- 
sition would  lessen  its  strength,  and  invite  defeat,  by  taking 
a  radical,  * '  sectional ' '  stand  upon  Slavery  that  would  alienate 
large  numbers  normally  hostile  to  the  principles  and  policies 
of  the  Administration,  was  not  anticipated  or  met  by  Mr. 
Dunham. 

Greeley's  views,  however,  met  immediately  with  direct  and 
emphatic  rejoinders.  One  of  the  most  interesting  and  vigor- 
ous came  from  the  pen  of  Thomas  Drummond  of  Vinton,  a 
veritable  Hotspur  in  the  journalism  and  politics  of  the  period. 
He  was  a  Virginian  by  birth  and  education  and  this  fact  no 
doubt  accounts  in  considerable  measure  for  the  vigor  and 
vivacity  of  his  utterances.  He  took  direct  issue  with  Greeley 's 
proposal  for  an  alliance  of  the  Opposition.  His  expressions 
are  so  typical  of  the  sentiments  of  the  aggressive  opponents  of 
Slavery,  who  were  at  the  time  staunch  Republican  par- 
tizans,  that  his  editorial  "Spoils  or  Principles  in  1860"  is 
given  at  considerable  length: 

The  Republican  party  is  not  yet  quite  four  years  old  .  .  . 

Unfortunately  the  party  is  just  now  cursed  with  a  lot  of  oflBcious 
political  mid-wives  .  .  .  who,  when  it  is  in  perfect  health  and  only 
awaits  its  appointed  time,  are  throwing  themselves  into  an  agony 
of  apprehension  about  its  safety  and  insist  on  doctoring  and  pre- 
scribing for  it.  Their  headquarters  are  in  New  York  and  Horace 
Greeley  of  the  New  York  Trihune  is  their  chief.  It  really  seems 
to  us  the  deliberate  purpose  of  that  paper  to  prevent  a  Republican 
victory  if  possible  .  .  . 

It  is  the  professed  aim  of  The  Tri'bune  and  its  co-laborers  to 
bring  about  an  alliance  of  what  is  termed  the  "entire  opposition" 
to  the  Democratic  party  which  would  embrace  Republicans,  Know- 
Nothings,  Southern  Whigs  and  Douglas  Democrats  .  .  .  This  we  hold 
is  impossible  and,  if  possible  unwise  and  foolish  in  the  extreme. 
Success  at  such  a  price  would  be  barren  of  good  results.  .  .  . 

What  is  the  position,  what  are  the  doctrines  of  that  body  of  so- 
called  Conservatives  for  whose  co-operation  with  them,  such  strenu- 
ous efforts  are  now  being  made  by  Eastern  Republicans?  We  leave 
out  of  account  the  Douglas  Democrats,  as  a  miserable  Falstaffian 
rabble,  not  worth  looking  after,  and  answer,  they  are  mainly  a 
class  of  men  who  are  wedded  to  the  past,  old  fogies  who  cling  like 


54  IOWA  AND  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

Crittenden  and  Bates  to  the  recollections  and  teachings  of  a  former 
age.  .  .  . 

The  basis  of  Republicanism  is  its  recognition  and  advocacy  of 
the  "inalienable  rights  of  man"  and  its  purpose,  a  steady  and 
unceasing  opposition  to  Slavery  extension,  and  to  the  very  existence 
of  the  institution  itself.  .  .  .  This  at  least  is  Western  Republicanism, 
and  the  party  in  the  West  is  not  to  be  sold  out  by  its  professed 
brethren  in  the  East.  The  attempt  to  do  so  met  with  a  signal 
rebuke  last  Fall  in  Illinois  and  will  fail  as  signally  if  attempted 
a  year  hence.  The  nomination  of  Bates  or  Crittenden  or  any  of  their 
associates  as  candidates  for  the  Presidency,  or  any  emasculation 
of  its  platform  will  be  the  signal  for  a  revolt  of  the  genuine  old 
Anti-Slavery  element  of  the  party,  that  which  has  been  its  very  life 
blood;  and  its  organization  upon  the  platform  of  eternal  antagonism 
to  Slavery  in  the  territories  or  elsewhere. 

The  Republican  party  adopts  what  the  Isleio  York  Herald  terms 
"the  bloody,  brutal  manifesto"  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  as  re-echoed 
by  Senator  Seward,  that  there  is  and  must  be  a  steady  conflict  be- 
tween Slavery  and  Freedom  until  one  or  the  other  goes  to  the  wall — 
until  this  Union  becomes  all  slave  or  all  free.^ 

Two  weeks  later  he  expressed  his  satisfaction  anent  the  fact 
that  "the  persistent  efforts  of  certain  eastern  Republicans  and 
their  organs  to  pave  the  way  for  a  coalition  of  all  the  odds  and 
ends  .  .  .  are  meeting  with  small  favor  in  the  great 
Northwest."-  About  the  same  time  Mr.  Frank  W.  Palmer 
expressed  similar  sentiments  in  The  Times  of  Dubuque: 
* '  *  Conservative '  men  everywhere  North  as  well  a^  South,  may 
plot  and  plan  as  much  as  they  please.  There  will  be  no  half- 
and-half  ticket  in  1860.  ...  If  the  old  Whigs  and  Americans 
are  ready  to  co-operate  with  Republicans  .  .  .  there  may  be 
a  Union  .  .  .  but  any  attempt  by  a  lot  of  conservative 
old  fogies  to  patch  up  a  platform  in  which  Northern  Republi- 
cans will  occupy  an  indifferent  or  even  a  secondary  position, 
will  prove  a  disgraceful  failure."-  Mr.  Charles  Aldrich,  on 
the  contrary  did  not  concur  wdth  his  contemporaries  in  re- 
pelling the  suggestion  of  The  Tribune  but  gave  it  his  favor, 
if  we  may  so  conclude  from  his  reprinting  without  adverse 
comment  the  major  part  of  Greeley's  editorial  urging  fusion, 
including  those  portions  referring  to  Bell,  Bates  and  Botts.^ 

^The  Eagle,  May   10,   1859. 

2/ bid. 

^The  Hamilton  Freeman,  May  14,  1859. 


THE  REPUBLICAN  PRELIMINARIES  OF  1860  55 

About  the  same  time  Mr.  Teesdale  gave  expression  to  senti- 
ments that  illustrate  the  vague  and  variable  distinctions  that 
northern  anti-slavery  Republicans  were  prone  to  insist  upon 
in  their  attitude  toward  southern  anti-slavery  sympathizers  of 
the  Clay  school.  Commenting  upon  the  course  of  Crittenden 
who  had  but  recently  given  public  endorsement  to  the  candi- 
dacy of  Joshua  F.  Bell  for  Governor  of  Kentucky  on  the 
"Whig  ticket,  he  says: 

Mr.  Crittenden  has  just  taken  a  step  that  effectually  bars  all  hope 
of  his  nomination  for  the  Presidency  by  a  Republican  convention. 
He  has  endorsed  Mr.  Bell,  the  American,  or  Opposition  candidate 
for  Governor  of  Kentucky.  Mr.  Bell  is  a  pro-slavery  man;  and,  like 
Goggin  of  Virginia,  seeks  to  outstrip  the  Democratic  nominee,  in 
his  professions  of  allegiance  to  slavery  and  the  Slave  Power.  Deeply 
do  we  deplore  this  step  of  Mr.  C.  He  has  a  host  of  friends  in  the 
free  states  who  honored  him  for  the  manly  stand  he  took  in 
opposition  to  the  Lecompton  fraud,  and  in  favor  of  the  rights  of 
Kansas.  It  is  clear  that  Mr.  Crittenden  does  not  expect  a  position  in 
the  presidential  arena;  and  equally  clear  that  all  attempts  to  secure 
Southern  support,  by  ignoring  the  great  issue  before  the  American 
people,  is  worse  than  vain.  "It  is  worse  than  a  crime;  it  is  a  blun- 
der," ...  If  we  would  command  respect  ...  we  must  stand  up  for 
the  political  faith  delivered  to  the  fathers  of  the  Republic.  Their 
politics  was  a  part  of  their  religion,  and  their  religion  was  a  part 
of  their  politics.  They  knew  no  policy  inconsistent  with  a  proper 
recognition  of  the  rights  of  man.^ 

Mr.  Teesdale 's  attitude  in  May  was  not  exactly  consistent 
with  his  position  in  April.  He  does  not  specify  that  Senator 
Crittenden  had  made  himself  impossible  or  unavailable  as  a 
candidate  because  of  his  "Americanistic"  affiliations  in  Ken- 
tucky,— a  consideration  that  properly  would  have  had  great 
weight  in  the  North;  but  he  contends  that  his  endorsement 
of  a  man  who  did  not  violently  oppose  Slavery,  but  asserted 
its  right  to  be  where  it  was  found,  was  fatal  to  his  nomina- 
tion. Crittenden's  position  on  Slavery  had  not  varied.  He 
did  not  approve  of  Slavery  as  an  ideal  condition  in  theory  or 
in  the  concrete,  he  did  not  desire  to  encourage  its  growth, 
and  he  did  not  promote  its  extension.  His  opposition  to  the 
Lecompton  constitution  demonstrated  that  he  was  "more  of 
a  patriot  and  less  of  a  politician."    Let  Slavery  alone  where 

iTfte  Weekly  Citizen,  May  8,  1859. 


56  IOWA  AND  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

it  was, — keep  it  where  it  was, — respect  the  rights  of  the  own 
ers  of  slaves, — do  not  constantly  agitate  the  question  and  dis- 
turb the  peace  of  mind  of  those  who  possess  such  property, 
no  matter  how  undesirable  human  chattels  mav  be  in  ab- 
stract ethics  or  difficult  of  adjustment  in  practical  affairs.  The 
South  should  not  be  a  subject  of  constant  "assault."  If  we 
except  the  inconsistency  of  the  Republican  denunciation  of 
the  Dred  Scott  decision  and  their  valorous  insistence  upon  the 
sacredness  of  the  national  constitution  and  the  rights  of 
Slavocrats  south  of  the  Ohio,  Crittenden's  position  on  Slavery 
squared  with  the  views  of  nine  Republicans  out  of  ten  in  the 
North.1 

The  second  quarter  of  the  year  closed  with  an  expression 
from  Mr.  Howell  in  The  Gate  City  respecting  the  candidacy 
of  Simon  Cameron  that  voiced  an  opinion  that  became  very 
common  among  prudent  politicians  of  much  discernment  and 
experience.  Noting  the  fact  that  "Lately  the  Republican  press 
of  Pennsylvania  has  been  rapidly  coalescing  upon  him,"  he 
says,  "With  no  disposition  to  recommend  candidates  at  this 
early  period,  we  may  say,  however,  that  Pennsylvania  and 
Illinois  will  be  the  battle-ground  of  the  next  campaign.  There 
are  men  for  whom  those  two  States  can  be  carried.  But  they 
are  very  few.  These  two  plain  facts  will  go  very  far  and 
should  go  very  far  towards  limiting  the  range  of  speculation 
concerning  candidates."^  Victory  perches  on  the  standards 
of  those  who  command  effective  forces  at  the  crucial  points — 
and  such  were  the  doubtful  States. 


^Coleman's  Life  of  John  J.  Crittenden,  Vol.  II,  p.   154,  et  seq. — Passim. 
^The  Gate  City,  June  28,  1859. 


THE  REPUBLICAN  PRELIMINARIES  OF  1S60  57 


4 — Expressions  July-Decemher. 

Public  discussion  proceeds  like  the  tides  and  waves  of  the 
ocean,  now  flowing,  accumulating  and  surging,  then  receding 
and  ebbing  to  the  point  of  quiescence.  Following  the  general 
expression  of  party  opinion  in  the  forepart  of  1859,  respecting 
the  primary  political  issues  and  the  comment  relative  to  the 
availability  and  chances  of  the  several  Republican  champions 
mentioned  or  urged  as  desirable  candidates  for  the  Presidency, 
both  public  and  party  interest  in  the  subject  fell  to  a  low  ebb. 

During  the  summer  and  fall  the  majority  of  the  party  papers 
in  Iowa  scarcely  mentioned  the  presidential  succession  at  all. 
One  searches  in  vain  for  any  personal  editorial  interest  in  the 
approaching  national  campaign  in  the  columns  of  The  News 
of  Boone,  The  Intelligencer  of  St.  Charles,  The  Journal  of 
Elkader,  The  Ledger  of  Fairfield,  The  Guardian  of  Indepen- 
dence, The  Visitor  of  Indianola,  The  Pioneer  of  Leon,  The 
Advocate  of  Lyon  City,  The  Linn  County  Register  of  Marion, 
The  Visitor  of  Marengo,  The  Ex%n~ess  of  Marietta,  The  Eepuh- 
lican  of  Montezuma,  The  Courier  of  Ottumwa,  The  Hamilton 
Freema/n  of  Webster  City,  and  The  Black  Hawk  Courier  of 
Waterloo.  Most  of  them  do  not  even  reprint  articles  from  the 
eastern  press  anent  candidates  or  issues.  Mr.  Teesdale's  pre- 
diction in  April  was  verified  literally.  Local  matters  and 
news,  the  state  election  and  general  subjects  of  national  or 
international  moment  apparently  completely  absorbed  public 
interest.  The  same  may  be  said  for  the  most  part  of  the 
Republican  press  in  the  larger  cities.  Expression  of  editorial 
opinion  was  rare  and  little  or  no  attention  was  given  the 
matter  in  the  way  of  reprints  of  articles  or  pithy  paragraphs 
dealing  with  the  men  or  measures  with  which  political  debate 
was  soon  to  be  chiefly  concerned.    It  was  not  until  the  middle 


58  IOWA  AND  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

of  November,  when  the  returns  from  the  state  elections  were 
definitely  known  and  the  nature  of  the  party  prospects  began 
to  appear  with  some  distinctness  against  the  political  horizon, 
that  editors  began  again  to  indicate  a  definite  interest  in  the 
approaching  presidential  contest  and  to  express  opinions  in- 
dicative of  personal  convictions.  There  were,  however,  a 
few  expressions  between  July  and  November  w^orth  noting. 

(a)    Ethics,  Law  and  Fugitive  Slaves. 

In  the  forepart  of  July  Mr.  John  Edwards,  editor  of  The 
Patriot,  of  Chariton,  declared  a  sentiment  of  no  little  signifi- 
cance in  view  of  the  bitter  controversies  in  Congress  and  in  the 
country  at  large  over  the  apprehension  of  fugitive  slaves.  A 
judge  in  Ohio  had  but  shortly  before  been  defeated  for  renom- 
ination  by  the  Republican  state  convention  of  that  State 
because  of  a  decision  by  him  sustaining  the  constitutionality 
and  enforcing  the  provisions  of  the  Fugitive  Slave  law  in 
arrest  of  a  fugitive.  After  pronouncing  the  action  of  the 
convention  "an  egregious  blunder"  Mr.  Edwards  said: 

We  opine  a  large  majority  of  the  Republicans  coincide  with  Judge 
Swan  and  would  sustain  him  in  his  decision.  Not  that  they  do  not 
regard  the  Fugitive  Slave  act  as  very  odious,  unjust  and  revolting 
to  every  sentiment  of  humanity  and  civil  liberty;  but  that  it  is  the 
law  of  the  land,  and  sworn  judges  decided  the  law  to  be  constitu- 
tional. "Whatever  may  be  lawful  is  not  always  expedient."  The 
wisest  course  to  pursue  is  not  to  throw  any  obstruction  in  the  way 
of  the  enforcement  of  the  law  by  those  who  may  voluntarily  lend 
their  aid  to  its  enforcement.  But  use  all  constitutional  means  to 
have  such  an  atrocious  law  repealed  in  a  legal  way  as  soon  as  pos- 
sible. Whilst  no  power  on  earth  could  compel  us  to  violate  our  con- 
science by  engaging  under  this  law  to  capture  runaway  slaves,  yet 
at  the  same  time  if  others  could  be  found  to  engage  in  that  business, 
we  would  not  interfere  in  any  unlawful  manner  to  obstruct  its  legal 
operation. 

"The  above,"  observed  Mr.  Clark  Dunham  of  Burlington, 
on  reprinting  in  The  Hawk-Eye,  "expresses  our  sentiments 
exactly.  .  .  .  We  believe  Judge  Swan 's  was  a  righteous  decision 


THE  REPUBLICAN  PRELIMINARIES  OF  1860  59 

under  an  unrighteous  law. '  '^  About  a  month  later  Samuel  J. 
Kirkwood,  as  a  candidate  for  governor  declared  himself  in 
virtually  the  same  terms  in  response  to  an  interrogatory  of 
Gen.  Augustus  C.  Dodge  in  their  gubernatorial  debate  at 
Oskaloosa.  Grcneral  Dodge  advanced  the  logic  of  a  citizen's 
duty  under  known  law  a  step  farther  in  his  counter  response 
to  Kirkw^ood's  cross  question — Would  he,  Dodge,  assist  in 
catching  a  slave — by  saying  "...  I  would  do  whatever  the 
law  requires.  "- 

The  concurrence  of  Messrs.  Dunham  and  Kirkwood  in  the 
view  of  Mr.  Edwards  and  their  disinclination  to  accept  and 
act  upon  the  doctrine  of  Gen.  Dodge,  strikingly  illustrates 
the  basic  differences  and  subtleties  in  the  attitudes  of  the 
respective  disputants  towards  the  major  fact  in  public  dis- 
cussion. Property  in  human  chattels,  or  Slavery,  however  ab- 
horrent in  and  of  itself,  was  an  institution  sanctioned  by  age 
and  by  positive  law.  The  Republicans  constantly  declared  it 
to  be  a  creature  of  law.  The  constitution  of  the  nation 
recognized  it;  the  construction  and  ratification  of  that  in- 
strument being  possible  only  upon  the  complete  recognition 
of  the  rights  of  slaveholders.  The  Republicans  proclaimed 
their  loyal  adherence  to  that  supreme  statute.     The  ethics 


^The  Daily  Hawk-Eye,  July   15,    1859. 

^Ibid,  Aug.    3,   1859. 

The  reported  questions  and  answers  and  rejoinders  are  wortli  repro- 
duction. After  contending  tliat  the  Fugitive  Slave  law  was  "part  and 
parcel  of  the  constitution,"  Gen.  Dodge  then  said : 

"Mr.  Kirkwood,  would  you  obey  the  Fugitive  Slave  law?"  Mr.  K. 
replied,  "I  would  not  resist  the  enforcement  of  that  law,  but  before  I 
would  aid  in  capturing  a  fugitive  slave  I  would  suffer  the  penalty  of  the 
law,  but  I  would  not  aid  in  carrying  it  into  execution." 

Mr.  K.  returned  the  compliment  and  asked  Gen.  Dodge  if  he  would 
assist  in  catching  a  slave.  Gen.  Dodge  replied,  "I  would  ;  I  would  do  what- 
ever the  law  requires  me  to  do." 

The  following  from  one  Intimately  associated  with  his  political  life  when 
his  fame  was  becoming  nation-wide  forcefully  indicates  the  attitude  and 
tlie  outspokenness  of  Mr.  Lincoln  on  this  sore  point  in  the  discussion  of 
slavery  : 

"At  the  time  I  first  knew  him  it  was  irksome  to  very  many  of  his 
friends  to  be  told  that  there  ought  to  be  an  efficient  fugitive  slave  law.  But 
it  was  his  conviction  as  a  lawyer  that  there  ought  to  be  one,  and  he  never 
failed  to  say  so  when  interrogated,  or  when  occasion  required  that  that 
subject  should  be  touched  upon.  And  it  is  a  fact  that  Abolitionists  like 
Lovejoy  and  Codding  would  take  this  from  Lincoln  without  murmuring, 
when  they  would  not  take  it  from  anybody  else.  He  never  would  echo  the 
popular  cry :  "No  more  slave  States !"  Whenever  this  subject  was  dis- 
cussed he  would  say  that  if  a  territory  having  the  requisite  population 
and  belonging  to  us  should  apply  for  admission  to  the  Union  without 
fraud  or  constraint,  yet  with  slavery,  he  could  not  see  any  other  disposi- 
tion to  be  made  of  her  than  to  admit  her."  Mr.  Horace  White :  Introduc- 
tion  to   Herndon  and  Weik's  Abrahain  Lincoln,  Vol.   I,   p.    25. 


60  IOWA  AND  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

of  the  law  thereunder  clearly  enjoined  the  enforcement  of  the 
rights  of  owners  of  slaves.  The  barbarities  incident  to  Slav- 
ery, hideous  and  deplorable  as  they  were,  did  not  ipso  facto 
disturb  their  rights  any  more  than  the  misuse  or  abuse  of  any 
other  form  of  animate  property  invalidates  an  owner's  right 
to  its  full  use  and  recovery  in  case  of  escape.  Property  con- 
sisting of  slaves  possessed  all  of  the  attributes  of  movable 
property.  It  was  allowable  under  the  constitution  to  transport 
them  from  place  to  place  with  all  the  right  thereto  accom- 
panying in  full  rigor.  The  furious  denunciation  of  the  Dred 
Scott  decision  per  se,  the  constant,  insidious  and  underground 
violation  of  the  Fugitive  Slave  law  and  the  widespread  open 
opposition  to  its  enforcement  in  the  North,  the  gross  tergiversa- 
tion of  Republicans  (and  of  Northern  Democrats  too)  in  re- 
spect of  so-called ' '  Squatter  Sovereignty '.'  (or  "  Popular  Sover- 
eignty" as  its  advocates  preferred  to  call  it)  and  the  anarchy 
inherent  in  Douglas'  answer  to  Lincoln's  question  at  Free- 
port — all  these  palpable  inconsistencies  in  conduct  and  doc- 
trine finally  drove  such  Southern  leaders  as  Jefferson  Davis 
to  sanction  disunion  and  attempt  secession. 

The  concurrence  furthermore  of  Messrs.  Edwards,  Dunham 
and  Kirkwood  affords  us  an  interesting  illustration  of  how 
factors  with  contrary  antecedents  may  coalesce  and  later  pur- 
sue divergent  courses.  Mr.  Edwards'  view  was  obnoxious  to 
abolitionists,  to  militant  churchmen,  and  to  radical  anti-slavery 
men  among  the  Republicans.  Yet  we  find  all  three  men 
were  pronoimced  or  rather  denounced  as  radical  anti-slavery 
partisans  by  the  Democratic  press.  Mr.  Edwards  was  a  Ken- 
tuckian  by  birth  and  education,  whose  discontent  with  Slavery 
was  so  great  that  he  emigrated  to  a  free  state  and  emancipated 
the  slaves  that  he  inherited  from  his  father's  estate.  Mr. 
Kirkwood  was  a  Marylander  whose  father  and  brothers  owned 
slaves.  Mr.  Dunham  was  a  scion  of  Puritan  stock  of  the  bluest 
blood,  a  Vermonter  by  birth,  who  had  been  reared  among 
Southern  folk  in  Licking  county,  Ohio;  for  fourteen  years 
editing  The  Neivark  Weekly  Gazette.  All  three  men  regarded 
themselves,  and  were  so  regarded  by  their  party  associates  as 
"conservatives"  with  respect  to  the  slavery  question.     The 


THE  REPUBLICAN  PRELIMINARIES  OF  1860  61 

position  which  they  took  was  almost  identical  with  that  taken 
by  Judge  Bates  of  St.  Louis,  when  his  candidacy  for  the 
Presidency  was  announced  in  March  preceding  and  consistently 
maintained  thenceforward,  the  latter  more  nearly  coinciding 
with  Gen.  Dodge.  In  the  party  preliminaries  soon  to  follow 
Mr.  Dunham  finally  became  an  advocate  of  the  nomination 
of  Senator  Seward  of  New  York;  Mr.  Edwards  urged  the 
nomination  of  Senator  Cameron  of  Pennsylvania;  and  Gover- 
nor Kirkwood  finally  threw  his  influence  in  behalf  of  Abra- 
ham Lincoln. 

(b)  An  Appeal  to  Local  Pride  Rejected. 

In  the  middle  of  August  The  Press  and  Tribune  of  Chicago 
in  a  leading  article  advanced  an  argument  that  one  frequently 
encounters  in  partisan  discussion  in  politics — an  argument 
that  is  minor  in  importance  and  rarely  decisive,  but  one  which 
may  exert  more  or  less  influence  when  other  considerations  are 
evenly  balanced.  It  was  in  brief  a  direct  appeal  to  local  pride 
or  prejudice  as  one  may  prefer  to  put  it.  The  editor  of  that 
journal  had  been  scanning  the  almanacs  and  official  blue 
books  and  had  found  that  the  West  had  been  in  political 
"vassalage"  to  the  East  and  for  years  had  been  "denied" 
her  proper  weight  in  the  councils  of  the  nation.  He  showed 
that  except  for  a  period  of  30  days  the  West  had  never  had 
a  President ;  had  never  had  a  Vice-President,  not  even  a  can- 
didate; had  had  but  one  of  23  Secretaries  of  State;  but  two 
of  the  18  Postmasters-General  (John  IMcLean  in  1833  being 
the  last)  ;  not  one  of  the  26  Attorneys-General ;  but  two  of  the 
31  Secretaries  of  War ;  not  one  of  the  Secretaries  of  the  Navy. 
Since  the  foundation  of  the  government  the  West  had  had  but 
8  out  of  151  Secretaries  of  the  President's  Cabinet;  but  one 
of  26  Speakers  of  the  House  of  Representatives ;  and  but  one 
Judge  of  the  Supreme  Court.^ 

"These  facts  wiU  surprise  the  western  readers,"  remarked 
Mr.  Teesdale,  "and  justify  the  indignant  commentary  of  The 
Tribune;  and  vindicate  the  conclusion  that  it  is  high  time  the 
great  West,  with  its  teeming  population  and  vast  interests, 

^The  Press  and  Tribune,  Chicago,  Aug.  16,  1859:  summary  taken  from 
The  Iowa  Weekly  Citizen,  Aug.   24,   1859. 


62  IOWA  AND   ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

received  more  consideration  at  the  hands  of  political  organiza- 
tions  "  Mr.  Teesdale  then  proceeds  to  discuss  the  signifi- 
cance of  the  editorial  and  the  wisdom  of  acting  on  its  sugges- 
tion. His  language,  its  tone  and  substance,  illustrates  the 
views  of  probably  the  majority  of  the  Republican  editors  in 
Iowa  in  1859 : 

"We  do  not  understand  exactly  what  The  Tribune  would  be  at, 
except  that  it  wants  a  western  President.  Its  choice  is  not  desig- 
nated. Having  expressed  its  conviction  that  the  time  has  not  yet 
come  for  designating  personal  preferences,  we  shall  probably  be  left 
in  doubt,  for  a  time,  whether  McLean,  Chase,  Bates,  or  Lincoln  is 
the  favorite. 

While  admitting  the  force  of  the  facts  presented  by  The  Tribune, 
and  the  general  truthfulness  of  its  conclusions,  we  believe  that  the 
sentiment  of  Iowa  may  be  thus  expressed:  Give  us  the  right  man, 
and  it  is  a  matter  of  little  moment  where  he  comes  from.  We  are 
one  people,  and  so  ought  to  remain  forever.  All  other  considerations 
being  equal,  we  may  consider  locality.  If  the  W^est  has  the  right 
man  for  the  place,  and  he  can  bring  the  assurance  of  success,  as 
fully  as  any  other,  there  should  be  a  union  of  western  strength  in 
his  favor. 

A  letter  written  at  St.  Louis,  for  the  Springfield  Republican,  is 
copied  in  the  N.  Y.  Tribune.  It  is  designed  to  give  prominence  to 
the  name  of  Mr.  Bates,  as  a  western  candidate  for  the  Presidency. 
If  its  testimony  may  be  relied  upon,  Mr.  Bates  occupies  the  right 
position  on  the  great  question  before  the  people.  His  faith  is  evi- 
denced by  his  works.  Looking  at  Slavery  from  the  right  moral  and 
political  standpoint,  he  never  could  lend  the  sanction  of  a  name  that 
is  the  synonym  for  patriotism  and  integrity,  to  the  wicked  policy  of 
the  Slavery  Propagandists.  But  if  Mr.  Bates  cannot  secure  Missouri 
or  any  other  slave  state,  and  is  not  as  strong  as  some  others  in 
Ohio,  or  New  York,  or  Pennsylvania,  or  New  England, — where  we 
must  secure  success — then  Mr.  Bates  is  not  the  man.^ 

(c)    Pre-Election  Expressions — and  Judge  Bates. 

The  exigencies  of  a  strenuous  state  campaign  now  absorbed 
the  energies  of  editors  almost  exclusively.  Early  in  August 
The  DeWitt  Stajidard  declared  itself  an  advocate  of  the  nom- 
ination of  Wm.  H.  Seward  for  President  and  of  Cassius  M. 
Clay  for  Vice-President;  and  in  the  common  phrase  of  the 
day  "nailed  their  names  to  his  mast  head"  :  but  the  announce- 
ment seems  to  have  elicited  no  comment  favorable  or  unfavor- 


^The  Iowa  Weekly  Citizen,  Aug.  24,  1859. 


THE  REPUBLICAN  PRELIMINARIES  OF  1860  63 

able ;  indeed  for  the  most  was  not  noticed  so  far  as  the  writer 
has  observed.^  No  other  expressions  of  consequence  are  dis- 
coverable prior  to  the  elections  in  November.  In  the  columns 
of  The  Gate  City  we  find  (Aug.  20)  a  sketch  of  Simon  Cam- 
eron originallj'  appearing  in  his  organ  at  Harrisbiirg,  in  con- 
nection with  the  announcement  of  his  candidacy  for  the  Presi- 
dency; and  (Sept.  3)  Judge  Bates'  letter  to  a  committee  of  a 
mass  meeting  of  the  Opposition  party  in  Memphis ;  neither  is 
accompanied  by  editorial  comment.  Mr.  Dunham  reprints 
two  extracts  from  the  N.  Y.  Times  denying  that  Col.  Fremont 
had  written  a  letter  refusing  to  be  a  candidate:  "Presidential 
letter-writing  is  not  his  specialty;  he  leaves  that  for  the 
amusement  of  those  who  have  a  taste  for  knocking  out  their 
brains  in  this  particular  way."  In  the  same  issue  Mr.  Dun- 
ham notes  that  j\Ir.  AA^ashington  Hunt  and  Tlie  National  In- 
telligencer had  announced  that  they  would  support  Judge 
Bates.-  Mr.  Hildreth  glances  at  the  national  political  horizon 
and  canvasses  the  outlook.  "The  chances  are  about  even  be- 
tween the  two  parties  for  carrying  the  next  Presidency,"  he 
concludes,  and  dwells  on  the  doubtful  states  and  their  stra- 
tegic importance.^  Briefly  noting  that  "the  claims"  of 
Edward  Bates  were  being  "pressed  by  a  number  of  journals," 
Mr.  Jacob  Rich  of  Independence  observes  noncommittally : 
"Mr.  Bates  has  long  been  strongly  anti-slavery  in  sentiment, 
but  has  never  acted  with  the  Republican  party  other  than 
giving  his  sympathies  and  support  to  the  emancipationists  of 
Missouri.  If  his  friends  can  satisfy  the  country  of  his  cordial 
sympathy  with  the  Republican  movement  he  will  prove  a 
strong  competitor  for  the  nomination."* 

Discussion  waxed  but  little  during  November  until  the 
latter  weeks.  The  Daily  Haivk-Eye  reprinted  without  com- 
ment an  extract  from  Gov.  Chase 's  speech  at  Sandusky,  Ohio, 
on  the  20th  ultimo,  strongly  urging  the  "union"  of  all  ele- 
ments of  the  Opposition  "for  the  contest  of  1860":^  and  later 
under  the  caption,  "An  Important  Political  Document,"  ex- 
tended extracts  of  a  statement  then   recently  published  in 

i/b.     ^The  Daily  Hawk-Eye,  Oct.  18,  1859. 
*Tfte  St.  Charles  Intelligencer,  Oct.  20,  1859. 
*The  Guardian,  Oct.  27,  1859. 
^The  Daily  HawTc-Eye,  Nov.  2,  1859. 


64  IOWA  AND  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

The  News  of  St.  Louis  purporting  to  be  an  authoritative  state- 
ment of  Judge  Bates'  views  upon  the  moot  questions  affecting 
the  presidential  succession.^  The  Excelsior  of  Maquoketa  gives 
its  readers  two  and  a  half  columns  of  the  same  and  com- 
mends it  strongly.-  Mr.  Teesdale  asserted  that  "in  the 
main"  his  sentiments  were  "such  as  every  intelligent  man 
must  heartily  endorse,"  and  resident  as  he  was  in  a  northern 
slave  state  ' '  his  views  are  of  marked  significance. '  '^ 

The  columns  of  The  Gate  City  contain  several  articles  indica- 
tive of  alert  public  interest  in  the  candidacy  of  Judge  Bates 
and  the  proper  course  for  the  party  to  pursue  in  the  matter 
of  selecting  the  candidate.  The  statement  given  out  at  St. 
Louis  by  The  News,  it  asserts,  was  not  "authoritative"  but  as 
there  was  no  denial  Mr.  Howell  presumes  that  its  expressions 
were  "substantially"  in  accord  with  his  sentiments;  but  he 
is  non-committal  as  respects  his  o-wti  views  or  feelings  toward 
Judge  Bates.  In  the  same  issue,  in  another  editorial,  headed 
' '  Presidential  Candidates, ' '  he  makes  some  pointed  and  pithy 
suggestions,  without  reference  to  particular  persons  or  candi- 
dates, but  evidently  with  regard  to  certain  developments  in 
the  drifts  of  discussion.* 

The  Republicans  everywhere  are  more  anxious  for  the  success  of 
the  ticket  than  for  the  nomination  of  their  friends,  and  we  believe 
fully  understand  that  no  intrigue,  no  trick  to  force  a  man  upon 
the  party  could  by  hardly  any  possibility  be  successful  in  the  con- 
vention, -while  the  tolerable  certainty  of  a  defeat  would  await  him 
before  the  people.  The  present  opportunity  to  obtain  power,  the 
possibility  of  retaining  it,  a  successful  administration  of  public 
affairs  upon  Republican  principles,  everything,  conspires  to  demand 
a  politic  and  satisfactory  nomination,  and  a  considerate  and  candid 
examination  of  the  merits  and  demerits  of  the  several  candidates. 
And  all  this  is  generally  appreciated.  Particularly  will  this  spirit 
display  itself  in  the  national  convention.  Success,  and  success  with  a 
sound  man,  we  feel  convinced  is  the  spirit  which  will  reign  with  an 
overwhelming  power  in  that  body.  Let  all  the  local  interests  and 
particular  facts,  however,  be  freely  ventilated  before  its  assembling, 
that  the  members,  when  they  come  together,  may  be  as  well  in- 
formed as  they  can  be,  and  as  well  qualified  as  possible  to  render 
a  sound  judgment. 

^Ib.,  Nov.   15,   1859. 

"The  Weekly  Maquoketa  Excelsior,  Nov.  29,  1859. 

'The  Iowa  Weekly  Citizen,  Nov.  23,  1859.     *The  Gate  City,  Nov.  18,  1859. 


THE  REPUBLICAN  PRELIMINARIES  OF  1860  65 

Three  days  later  Mr.  Howell  summarizes  for  his  readers  the 
comments  of  the  leading  journals  of  New  York  City  upon 
•Judge  Bates'  statement.  William  Cullen  Bryant's  paper, 
The  Evening  Post,  looked  upon  it  as  "  clear ' '  and  ' '  so  far  as  it 
goes  quite  satisfactory,  except  that  his  urgency  in  favor  of  an 
effective  fugitive  slave  law  is  unnecessary  and  not  altogether 
to  the  taste  of  the  North."  Mr.  Bennett's  paper  The  Herald, 
looks  on  the  pronouncement  with  favor  and  thinks  that  "Mr. 
Bates  on  the  score  of  'Nationality'  especially,  would  be  a 
strong  man  for  the  Republicans."  Mr.  James  Watson  Webb's 
The  Courier  and  Enquirer,  then  or  later  a  prominent  promoter 
of  Senator  Seward's  candidacy,  plumply  declared  that  if  the 
"Republican  convention  of  1860  should  nominate  any  such 
Fillmore  disorganizer  as  Bates  he  will  be  defeated  by  the 
Republican  party,  and  will  deserve  defeat."  Greeley's 
Tribune,  while  asserting  that  the  statement  did  "not  entirely 
accord  with  its  own  views,  it  is  the  soundest,  clearest  and 
most  forceful  expression  upon  the  slavery  question  yet  put 
forth  by  the  so-called  *  conservative '  sentiment  of  the  country 
and  wishes  that  a  copy  of  it  might  be  put  in  the  hands  of  every 
voter  who  can  read  in  the  country. ' '  The  Times  thought  that 
it  agreed  in  "every  essential  point  with  the  ground  taken  by 
the  Republican  party  at  Pittsburgh  and  Philadelphia."^  To 
the  insinuation  that  Judge  Bates'  anti-slavery  views  were 
sprouts  of  feeble  or  recent  growth,  Mr.  Howell  pointed  out  that 
he  was  a  native  of  Virginia,  a  son  of  Quaker  stock  on  both 
sides  "known  for  nearly  a  century  for  their  religious  hos- 
tility" to  Slavery  and  quotes  the  Washington  Star  that  de- 
clares his  views  to  be  "hereditary  and  to  be  respected,  not 
being  the  result  of  a  demagogue's  ambition. "=^ 

Up  to  this  time  so  far  as  the  writer  can  discover  no  positive 
predictions  as  to  the  candidate  who  would  be  nominated  had 
been  made.  Editors  were  either  indifferent,  or  prudent  or 
skeptical  as  to  the  outlook.  One  editor  at  Garnavillo,  in 
northeastern  Iowa,  Mr.  Joseph  Eiboeck,  an  alert,  ambitious 
young  German,  who  had  but  shortly  before  assumed  control 


^The  Gate  City,  Nov.  23.  1859. 
*n..  Nov.  24,  1859. 


66  IOWA  AND  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

of  The  Journal,  looked  at  the  political  situation  and  ventured 
a  prophecy  which  was  in  some  part  fulfilled.  In  his  judgment 
]\Iessrs.  Bates  and  Seward  were  the  most  prominent  Repub-, 
lican  candidates;  and  Pierce,  Buchanan  and  Douglas  the  lead- 
ing Democratic  candidates.  "From  these  it  is  very  probable 
that  l\rr.  Bates  will  be  the  most  favored,  and  Pierce  the  lead-  I 
ing  Democratic  nominee.  .  .  .  Douglas  will  perhaps  obtain  the 
support  of  most  of  the  Northern  States  .  .  .  but  the  South  will 
oppose  and  thus  defeat  him.  .  .  .  Wm.  H.  Seward  will  stand 
no  chance  with  Bates,  for  reasons  that  are  knoAvn  to  everyone. 
Seward  like  Clay  is  a  great  man  but  he  never  will  be  President 
of  the  United  States.  "^ 

The  editorial  has  a  special  significance  in  the  fact  that  Mr. 
Eiboeck  was  a  German  and  wrote  for  a  constituency  largely 
German.  Within  two  months,  notwithstanding  Judge  Bates' 
course  in  the  campaign  of  1856,  supporting  Fillmore  and  giv- 
ing support  to  sundry  doctrines  of  the  "American"  party, 
and  his  attitude  toward  the  Fugitive  Slave  law,  Mr.  Eiboeck 
explicitly  advocated  the  nomination  of  Judge  Bates  by  the 
national  Republican  convention.^ 

(d)  Mr.  Teesdale's  Review  of  the  Situation. 

November  closed  with  another  extended  and  vigorous  ex- 
pression from  Mr.  Teesdale,  who  kept  a  very  alert,  discerning 
eye  upon  the  political  horizon,  reviewing  recent  developments, 
pointing  out  the  vital  issues  and  the  conditions  of  the  party's 
success,  the  occasion  that  impelled  the  expression  apparently 
being  some  recent  observations  of  The  Press  and  Tribune  of 
Chicago,  which  he  combats.  "A  glorious  uncertainty  pre- 
vails," he  begins,  "as  to  the  men  who  are  likely  to  enjoy  the 
honor  of  leading  the  Republican  hosts  to  victory  in  the  next 
presidential  canvass."  The  Chicago  Tribune  declared  that  the 
selection  should  be  determined  by  the  exigencies  in  the  states 
the  Republicans  lost  in  1856 — the  main  question  before  the 
convention  will  be,  who  can  carry  Illinois,  Indiana,  New  Jer- 
sey and  Pennsylvania,  or  the  last  without  reference  to  the 
other  three.    ' '  The  convention  may  be  able  to  settle  this  ques- 

>T7ie  Journal,  Nov.  21,  1859. 
*/&.,  Feb.  13,  1860. 


THE  REPUBLICAN  PRELIMINARIES  OF  1860  67 

tion  satisfactorily,  without  being  a  particle  nearer  success  than 
when  it  commenced  its  labors. ' '    Simon  Cameron  might  carry 
Pennsylvania  and  endanger  success  in  "unalterably  Repub- 
lican states."    The  nomination  "of  Mr.  Lincoln  might  secure 
Illinois,  beyond  peradventure,  but  is  there  not  a  possibility" 
that  it  would  endanger  old  Republican  states  ?    The  late  elec- 
tions demonstrated  that  every  free  state  save  California  was 
safely  Republican  if  the  party's  "nominees  be  men  of  the 
right  stamp."    They  should  be  "men  who  have  been  tried  as 
by  fire,  on  the  great  issues  before  the  country.  ,  .  ,  Anything 
short  of  this  will  not  meet  the  expectations  of  the  awakened 
masses.     To  award  the  honors  ...  to  mere  camp-followers, 
eleventh-hour  men,  to  the  neglect  of  those  who  have  borne 
the  heat  and  burden  of  the  fight,  is  a  policy  destructive  of  all 
political  organization.  .  .  .  Yet  there  is  a  strong  inclination,  we 
fear,  to  do  this  very  thing.     Against  it  we  would  raise  our 
voice  now,  and  all  the  time."     The  recent  election  in  New 
York  clearly  indicated  that  Mr.   Seward  could  carry  that 
State;  that  the  Democrats  and  "Americans"  could  not  amal- 
gamate again.     Nevertheless,  Mr.  Teesdale  declares  that  "it 
will  not  surprise  us  to  learn  that  Mr.  Seward,  when  he  returns 
home  [from  Europe]  refuses  to  allow  his  name  to  be  used,  if 
there  is  a  shadow  of  doubt  as  to  his  acceptability  to  the  Repub- 
licans of  any  of  the  states  whose  votes  are  needed  to  insure 
success.     He  will  never  seek  or  accept  a  nomination  that  is 
not  equivalent  to  an  election,  while  there  is  another  soldier 
in  the  field  who  can  insure  success  to  the  cause.     At  least 
such  is  our  estimate  of  the  lofty  patriotism  of  the  man."    He 
recurs  to  his   observations  while  on  his  late  visit  east    [in 
March]  of  conditions  in  Ohio,  Michigan,  and  Illinois.     Chase 
was  strong  in  Ohio  and  popular  with  the  Republicans  of  the 
country  at  large;  but  the  stout  opposition  of  Corwin's  friends 
to  his  advancement  and  the  numerous  adherents  of  Judge 
McLean  and  Senator  Wade,  who  desired  first  their  champion's 
nomination,  made  an  effective  effort  on  behalf  of  Chase  im- 
probable.   Michigan  was  almost  unanimous  in  support  of  Mr. 
Seward.     Illinois  "is  for  Lincoln;  with  a  side  current  for 
Trumbull.  .  .  .  Their  gallant  labors  for  the  redemption  of  their 


68  IOWA  AND  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

State  will  give  them  much  prominence  in  the  national  conven- 
tion. Lincoln  possesses  most  fully  the  elements  of  personal 
popularity.  His  genial  traits  bind  his  friends  to  him  as  bj^ 
"hooks  of  steel. "^ 

(e)  Mention  of  Candidates  Increases  in  December. 

During  December  Iowa's  editors  deal  more  with  particular 
candidates  and  somewhat  with  the  general  tactics  of  procedure, 
indicating  a  realization  that  the  time  for  practical  measures 
and  definite  decisions  was  approaching. 

Summarizing  the  views  of  Judge  Bates  as  lately  given  out 
at  St.  Louis,  Mr.  John  Mahin,  of  Muscatine,  notwithstanding 
the  former's  advocacy  of  due  enforcement  of  the  Fugitive 
Slave  law  and  of  non-interference  with  Slavery  in  the  states 
wherein  established,  coupled  with  his  declared  opposition  to  its 
extension  and  abhorrence  of  the  institution,  concluded  his 
editorial  review  with  the  assertion:  "Upon  this  platform 
Mr.  Bates  would  doubtless  receive  the  united  support  of  the 
Republican  party.  "^  As  Mr.  Mahin  was  a  radical  of  radicals 
upon  the  subject  of  Slavery,  living  in  a  community  that  has 
always  been  noted  in  the  State's  history  for  its  militant 
radicalism  in  social  reforms  his  declaration  is  decidedly  inter- 
esting and  instructive. 

Mr.  Dunham's  columns  contain  no  editorial  assertions  of 
consequence.  He  received  a  personal  letter  from  "a  reliable 
Republican"  in  whose  "good  sense  and  sound  judgment"  he 
had  much  confidence,  the  substance  of  which  he  gives  his 
readers.  His  correspondent  urged  him  to  advocate  the  renom- 
ination  of  Fremont  and  Dayton  as  in  1856,  believing  their 
popular  strength  equal  to  that  of  Seward  and  Chase  and  that 
"nothing  is  gained  by  courting  the  Old  Whig  votes  and  there 
is  no  use  in  trying  to  nominate  a  candidate  to  suit  them. "  The 
letter  elicits  no  comment  from  Mr.  Dunham:  he  simply  pre- 
sents the  suggestion  to  his  readers  "for  their  consideration."^ 
About  this  time  the  editor  of  The  Knoxville  Journal,  observ- 
ing that  various  state  papers  were  urging  the  nomination  of 
Senator  Simon  Cameron  of  Pennsylvania,  remarked:  ".  .  .we 

^The  Iowa  Weekly  Citizen,  Nov.  30,  1859. 
'The  Muscatine  Journal,  Dec.  3,  1859. 
»rfte  Daily  Hawk-Eye,  Dec.  3,  1859. 


THE  REPUBLICAN  PRELIMINARIES  OF  1860  69 

are  glad  to  see,  none  of  them  [do  so]  with  a  spirit  of  dogma- 
tism or  injustice  towards  other  great  men  in  the  Republican 
party";  and  he  concludes — "With  Cameron  and  Bates  on  our 
ticket  Iowa  is  good  for  ten  thousand  majority."^  Some  cor- 
respondents of  The  Commercial  Advertiser  of  Buffalo  (N.  Y,), 
attempting  to  promote  the  candidacy  of  Judge  Bates  by  dis- 
paragement of  Senator  Seward,  Mr.  Teesdale  declared  their 
course  "Not  the  Right  Way."  "It  is  the  very  worst  policy 
to  attempt  to  elevate  one  distinguished  Republican  by  the 
depression  of  another."-  The  increasing  attention  given  the 
position  of  the  Missourian  caused  Mr.  Add.  H.  Sanders  of 
Davenport,  to  examine  his  "more  important  declarations  of 
opinion";  and  he  announced:  "But  we  have  no  hesitation  in 
saying  that  in  the  main  we  approve  them,  as  every  Republican 
may — but  we  are  very  far  from  declaring  that  he  is  our  first 
choice  as  the  next  Republican  candidate  for  the  Presidency. 
Most  certainly,  however,  we  should  rather  be  successful  with 
Mr.  B.  than  defeated  with  any  other  man  in  the  Union  as  our 
candidate."^ 

Down  in  Mills  county  in  southwestern  Iowa,  The  Pacific 
Herald  declared  itself  an  advocate  of  the  nomination  of  Gov. 
Chase  in  preference  to  Senator  Seward,  on  the  ground  that 
the  latter  would  be  opposed  with  "more  intense  bitterness" 
in  the  election.  Mr.  Teesdale  took  exception,  declaring  that  of 
the  two  statesmen  Chase  was  ' '  a  much  more  ultra-anti-slavery 
man  than  ScAvard.  The  history  of  both  gentlemen  will  be  thor- 
oughly canvassed  before  nomination ;  and  whoever  receives  the 
nomination  must  pass  through  a  fiery  ordeal."*  Mr.  Teesdale 
did  not  fear  the  result  in  either  case  and  would  heartily 
support  the  nominees. 

December  and  the  year  closed  with  several  interesting  and 
pithy  editorial  expressions  upon  the  presidential  succession. 
(They  emphasize  again  the  general  unity  of  purpose,  the  ab- 
sence of  obdurate  personal  prejudice  and  willingness  to  cast 
aside  personal  wishes  and  old-time  friendships  if  thereby  suc- 
cess of  the  national  cause  could  be  insured  and  the  common 


^Quoted  in  The  Muscatine  Daily  Journal,  Dec.  9,   1859. 
^Tlie  Iowa  Weekly  Citizen,  Dec.  7,  1859. 
^The  Davenport   Weekly   Gazette,  Dec.    8,    1859. 
^The  Iowa  Weekly  Citizen,  Dec.  21,  1859. 


70  IOWA  AND  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

recognition  of  the  primary  strategic  points  in  the  situation. 
Two  of  them  indicate  how  seriously  the  candidacy  of  Simon 
Cameron  was  regarded  by  shrewd  observers. 

Observing  the  frequent  favorable  mention  of  Simon  Cam- 
eron's candidacy  in  his  exchanges,  Mr.  Robert  Holmes  of  Ma- 
rion, editor  of  The  Linn  County  Register,  decided  that  the 
chances  of  the  Pennsylvanian  being  nominated  were  so  favor- 
able as  to  be  conclusive  of  the  party's  action.  "Although  we 
have  had,"  he  says,  "some  doubts  as  to  the  propriety  of  thus 
early  taking  sides  for  this  or  that  man,  inasmuch  as  it  may  en- 
gender strife  and  bad  feeling  amongst  the  friends  of  different 
gentlemen  who  will  undoubtedly  be  presented  to  the  conven- 
tion— still  without  indicating  any  particular  choice  ourselves, 
we  think  the  suggestion  a  good  one.  It  is  understood  that  with- 
out doubt,  Pennsylvania  wall  cast  her  vote  for  Mr.  Cameron, 
and  with  Lincoln  of  Illinois  for  Vice-President,  success  would 
seem  to  be  almost  a  certainty.  For  anything  we  can  see  now, 
these  nominations  are  as  likely  to  be  made  as  any  others  spoken 
of."^  Mr.  Howell  reprinting  an  article  commendatory  of 
Pennsylvania's  candidate,  again,  as  in  June  preceding,  points 
out  the  strong  position  Mr.  Cameron  occupied,  as  a  candidate. 
"It  is  conceded  that  Pennsylvania  and  Illinois  will  form  the 
battle-ground  of  the  next  campaign,  and  Pennsylvania  has  27 
votes,  her  change  from  one  side  to  the  other  making  a 
difference  of  54.  The  location,  the  remarkable  energy,  and 
the  home  influence  of  Mr.  Cameron  greatly  favor  him."^ 
Here  as  before  the  editor  of  The  Gate  City  gives  no  hint 
of  personal  preference  or  of  his  probable  positive  action  so 
far  as  it  may  be  able  to  affect  the  practical  decision. 

This  impersonal,  almost  indifferent,  non-partisan  considera- 
tion of  candidates  that  is  persistent  in  the  columns  of  Mr. 
Howell's  paper,  likcAvise  characterizing  the  course  of  Messrs. 
Dimham  of  Burlington  and  Teesdale  of  Des  Moines,  is 
effectively  illustrated  in  an  utterance  of  Mr.  Sanders  of  Dav- 
enport. Canvassing  the  presidential  question  at  the  close  of 
the  year  and  noting  the  men  mentioned  as  candidates  he  con- 
cludes :    "When  all  are  good  and  well-qualified  men,  he  should 

^The  Linn  County  Register,  Dec.  24,  1859. 
^The  Gate  City,  Dec.  28,   1859. 


THE  REPUBLICAN  PRELIMINARIES  OF  1860  71 

'i 
receive  the  nomination,  who  possesses  the  greatest  attributes  of 

strength — who  is  most  likely  to  make  the  best  race — and  feel- 
ings and  personal  friendships  should  be  laid  aside  by  delegates 
as  far  as  possible,  to  secure  this  object."  This  is  not  the  lan- 
guage of  sentiment  but  of  politics.  The  victory  of  the  party 
and  the  triumph  of  the  principles  for  which  the  party  was 
established  and  continues  to  exist  is  the  grand  objective  in 
view,  not  the  attainment  of  personal  prejudices. '  '^ 

If  one  fact  more  than  another  strikes  the  reader  of  the 
editorial  columns  of  the  Republican  newspapers  of  Iowa  in 
1859,  it  is  the  conspicuous  absence  of  keen  personal  partisan 
interest  on  the  part  of  editors  in  furtherance  of  the  candidacy 
of  any  one  candidate.  A  few  editors  indicate  their  personal 
preferences  and  declare  themselves  for  their  favorite.  But 
the  majority  are  silent  on  the  whole  matter.  This  is  especially 
true  of  the  press  of  the  small  cities.  The  editors  of  the  influ- 
ential dailies  in  the  large  cities,  while  they  frequently  mention 
the  presidential  succession,  noting  the  developments  in  other 
states  and  the  changing  fortunes  of  the  different  candidates, — 
declare  themselves  only  on  party  principles  and  policy  and 
procedure,  but  maintain  an  obstinate  silence  as  to  personal 
preferences.  There  is  no  ardent,  tempestuous  advocacy  of 
either  measures  or  men.  There  is  no  spirit  of  "rule  or  ruin" 
discoverable,  although  there  is  from  time  to  time  pronounced 
-and  emphatic  declarations  of  what  the  editors  regard  as  the 
essentials  of  success.  Was  this  attitude  exceptional?  peculiar 
to  the  press  of  Iowa  ?  The  following  taken  from  Mr.  Howell 's 
columns  is  instructive : 

We  have  not  yet  seen,  in  any  one  of  the  most  prominent  journals 
of  the  Republican  party,  excepting  the  (N.  Y.)  Courier  and  Enquirer, 
a  decided  preference  as  to  a  presidential  candidate.  The  Albany 
Journal,  [Thurlow  Weed's  paper].  The  Evening  Post  and  The 
Tribune  at  New  York,  the  Cincinnati  Gazette,  the  Chicago  Tri- 
bune, and  papers  of  that  class,  are  utterly  silent  as  to  men.  Even 
where  the  strongest  partialities  might  be  supposed  to  exist,  the  one 
firm  resolution  prevails,  to  keep  men  out  of  sight  as  far  as  possible 
and  to  forego  all  personal  preferences  for  the  sake  of  the  cause.  It 
is  an  encouraging  sign, — a  sign  of  solid  and  invincible  union. ^ 


iTTie  Davenport  Weekly  Gazette,  Dec.  29,  1859. 
«rhe  Gate  City,  Dec.  7,  1859. 


72  IOWA  AND  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

In  the  matter  of  party  opinion  and  public  expression  of 
desire,  developments  in  Iowa  in  1859  in  the  Republican  pre- 
liminaries of  the  national  campaign  of  1860,  fully  typify  the 
course  of  things  in  the  nation  at  large. 

(f)  Public  Consideration  of  Mr.  Lincoln  for  the  Presidency. 

Politicians  rarely  put  forward  and  support  men  or  meas- 
ures that  shock  the  sensibilities  or  clash  with  the  dominant 
desires  of  the  majority  of  their  constituents :  and  they  never 
deliberately  do  violence  to  public  expectation.  They  may 
misconceive  and  run  athwart  the  major  public  interest  or 
nominate  men  obnoxious  to  the  elite  in  pious  and  polite 
circles,  and,  if  parties  are  evenly  balanced,  suffer  defeat  in 
consequence.  It  is  the  primary  and  particular  business  of 
politicians  to  control,  or  seek  to  control,  the  arms  and  agencies 
of  the  government  and  determine  the  distribution  of  its  bene- 
fits. Success  is  the  paramount  object  of  their  activity  and 
their  success  is  the  issue  of  public  favor.  It  is  a  violent 
presumption  to  assume,  as  lay  philosophers  in  pulpit  and 
press  are  w'ont  to  do,  that  politicians  impudently  or  negli- 
gently run  amuck  with  public  sentiment.  Their  decisions  as 
to  measures  or  as  to  candidates  are  made  in  the  belief  and 
in  the  hope  that  they  coincide  with  and  further  the  common 
desire,  first  of  their  partisan  associates  and  second  of  the 
majority  of  the  electors.  Novel  measures  and  never-before- 
heard-of  candidates  usually  are  no  more  tolerated  than  bad 
measures  and  corrupt  nominees.  Both  measures  and  men,  if 
politicians  wish  to  secure  the  support  of  the  public,  must  be 
familiar  to  the  minds  of  electors.  But  electors,  it  is  well  to 
remember,  do  not  include  the  entire  mass  of  the  population. 
The  field  of  the  practical  politician  is  confined  to  those  who 
directly  determine  the  operation  of  the  government  in  the 
formulation  of  its  policies,  in  the  conduct  of  its  administra- 
tion and  in  the  operation  of  the  party  machinery  whereby 
the  public  will  is  organized  and  made  effective;  and  a  large 
proportion  of  the  male  population  devote  but  little  or  no  atten- 
tion to  practical  politics  and  hence  exert  no  influence. 

Was  Abraham  Lincoln  at  the  close  of  1859  a  familiar  in 
the  minds   of   Iowa's  politicians   and   electors?     Was  he   a 


THE  REPUBLICAN  PRELIMINARIES  OF  1860  73 

factor  with  which  the  public  reckoned  as  a  matter  of  course? 
Had  his  name  and  fame  become  a  part  of  the  popular  con- 
sciousness to  the  extent  that  he  was  mentioned  among  the 
presidential  candidates  worthy  of  definite  consideration  at 
the  national  convention?  And  did  lowans  have  reason  to 
think  that  Mr.  Lincoln  was  likewise  considered  by  the  party 
leaders  and  electors  of  the  older  eastern  States?  The  files 
of  Iowa's  newspapers  and  the  correspondence  of  some  of  the 
Republican  party  leaders  afford  us  some  evidence  for  an 
affirmative  answer. 

In  the  latter  months  of  1858  there  was  some  mention  of  IMr. 
Lincoln  as  a  presidential  possibility :  the  mention  resulting,  of 
course,  from  the  fame  he  had  achieved  in  his  debates  with 
Senator  Douglas.  Mr.  Teesdale  declared  that  the  Illinoian 
had  ''linked  himself  to  the  fortunes  of  the  Republicans  by 
hooks  of  steel.  The  name  of  Lincoln  will  be  a  household 
word  for  years  to  come.  He  has  a  brilliant  future."^  A 
week  later  The  Marshall  County  Times  felicitating  the 
Republicans  of  Illinois  on  their  popular  victory  urged  them 
to  prepare  for  the  battle  in  1860  for  they  might  ''see  their 
gallant  Old  Abe"  as  the  "presiding  officer"  of  the  Senate.^ 
Mr.  Zieback  of  Sioux  City  commenting  on  Greeley's  sugges- 
tion for  doing  away  with  national  conventions,  mentions  Mr. 
Lincoln  as  the  candidate  for  whom  Illinois  would  vote  under 
his  proposed  plan.^  Mr.  Swigget  of  the  same  city  cited  the 
suggestion  of  the  Chicago  Democrat,  Wentworth's  paper,  of 
his  consideration  for  "President  or  Vice-President."*  We 
have  seen  that  the  enthusiastic  praise  of  Mr.  Lincoln  of  the 
Rochester  (N.  Y.)  Democrat  closing  with  the  words:  "The 
Republicans  of  the  Union  will  rejoice  to  do  honor  to  the  dis- 
tinguished debater  of  Illinois"  was  quoted  in  various  papers 
in  the  State.^ 

During  1859  public  interest  in  Mr.  Lincoln  was  manifested 
almost  continuously  throughout  the  year  and  in  sundry  ways. 
His  stories  and  quips  were  cited;  generous  extracts  from  his 


^The  Iowa  Weekly  Citizen,  Nov.  17,  1858. 
^The  Marshall  County  Times,  Nov.  24,  1858. 
^The  Register,  Dec.   2,   1858. 
*The  Eagle,  Nov.   27,   1858. 

'^The  Gate  City,  Nov.  22,  1858,  and  The  Muscatine  Daily  Journal,  Nov.  23, 
1858. 


74  IOWA  AND   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN 

political  speeches  were  quoted;  his  journeyings  about  the 
country  were  noted;  his  name  was  linked  with  those  of  the 
foremost  leaders  of  his  party;  his  views  were  referred  to  by 
friends  and  critics  alike  as  authoritative  utterances  of  the 
principles  of  his  party;  and  he  was  the  beneficiary  of  fre- 
quent mention  as  a  statesman  worthy  of  nomination  for  one 
or  the  other  of  the  two  highest  offices  within  the  gift  of  the 
people.  And  the  significance  of  such  manifestations  of  pub- 
lic interest  is  materially  enhanced  when  we  consider  the  con- 
ditions under  which  newspapers  were  then  conducted. 

A  local  correspondent  of  The  Gate  City  signing  himself 
"Free  Labor,"  refers  (Jan.  14)  to  Senator  Douglas'  course 
"towards  two  prominent  statesmen  of  the  Republican  party. 
I  speak  of  Mr.  Seward  and  Mr.  Lincoln."  On  May  30  Mr. 
Howell  prints  Mr.  Lincoln's  letter  to  Dr.  Canisius  relative 
to  the  IMassachusetts  Tavo  Year  Amendment  affecting  natur- 
alized citizens.  When  Mr.  Lincoln  was  in  Ohio  the  same 
paper  contains  (Sept.  23)  a  column  and  more  of  "Abe 
Lincoln's  speech  at  Cincinnati  the  other  night";  and  a  week 
later  cites  the  praise  of  the  same  speech  in  The  National  Intel- 
ligence)-. It  reprints  (Oct.  4)  a  portion  of  the  speech  at  Co- 
lumbus anent  Douglas  and  the  Dred  Scott  decision. 

Repelling  the  attacks  of  the  Democrats  upon  the  Repub- 
lican expressions  regarding  the  essential  coriflict  between 
Free  and  Slave  labor,  Mr.  Howell  says  (Nov.  23)  that  the 
"irrepressible  conflict"  the  announcement  of  which  in  "lucid 
terms  by  both  Lincoln  and  Seward"  so  shocked  the  Demo- 
crats was  first  pointed  out  by  Calhoun  and  by  The  Richmond 
Enquire)',  and  after  quoting  the  latter  he  concludes:  "Did 
ever  Seward  or  Lincoln  or  Thomas  Jefferson  state  the  case 
more  definitelj'^  or  imperatively?  ..."  The  notations  and  ex- 
pressions of  Mr.  Howell  fairly  represent  other  Republican 
editors  in  the  State  who  kept  their  weather  eyes  on  the  forces 
and  factors  in  the  forthcoming  national  contest.  Mr.  Drum- 
mond  of  The  Eagle  of  Vinton,  as  we  have  seen,  declared, 
May  10:  "The  Republican  party  adopts  what  the  Neiv  York 
Herald  terms  'the  bloody,  brutal  manifesto'  of  Abraham  Lin- 
coln, as  re-echoed  by  Senator  Seward"  .  .  .  and  Mr.  Dorr  at 


THE  REPUBLICAN  PRELIMINARIES  OF  1860  75 

Dubuque  couples  the  names  of  the  two  statesmen  in  the  same 
connection.^ 

The  mention  of  Mr.  Lincohi  as  an  available  candidate  for 
either  the  first  or  second  place  on  the  national  ticket  began 
comparatively  early.  Mr.  Mahin  reprints  (March  29)  an 
editorial  from  the  Chicago  Democrat  urging  him  for  the  Vice- 
Presidency.^  Some  two  months  later  The  Montezuma  Weekly 
Republican  reprints  an  editorial  of  The  Rock  ford  (111.)  Re- 
publican also  advocating  his  selection  for  second  place.  On 
July  28  the  same  paper  reproduces  the  suggestion  of  The 
Free  Press  of  Elwood,  Kansas,  of  Gov.  Seward  for  President 
and  Mr.-  Lincoln  for  Vice-President. 

Some  commentators  on  the  first  nomination  of  Abraham 
Lincoln  have  pointed  out  that  in  some  of  the  lists  of  candi- 
dates published  when  the  preconvention  campaign  was  cul- 
minating, Mr.  Lincoln's  name  was  not  included:  and  hence 
the  conclusion  that  his  nomination  was  most  extraordinary 
and  surprising  to  the  country  at  large.  Thus  in  Forney's  Phil- 
adelphia Press  in  a  list  published  in  November,  1859,  and 
reproduced  (Nov.  29)  in  The  Davenport  Daily  Gazette,  the 
lUinoian  's  name  was  omitted :  and  a  book  published  at  Phila- 
delphia in  1860  entitled  Our  Living  Representative  Men  men- 
tions a  score  or  so  of  candidates  in  the  two  great  parties  but 
does  not  refer  to  Mr.  Lincoln.  De  Bow's  Review  reviewing 
the  volume  immediately  following  the  convention  at  Chicago 
says  the  omission  was  "creditable"  to  the  author,  Mr.  John 
Savage,  as  the  "claims  of  this  personage  were  regarded  to  be 
too  contemptible  to  entitle  him  to  a  place  in  the  'Gallery'.'" 
Mr.  Teesdale  in  April  and  Mr.  Sanders  in  December  in  edi- 
torials dealing  wdth  candidates  mention  Seward,  Chase,  Bates, 
Bell,  Crittenden,  Cameron,  Fremont,  McLean,  Scott,  Hale, 
Grow — but  fail  to  refer  to  Mr.  Lincoln.*  Nevertheless  Mr. 
Lincoln  was  mentioned  for  the  first  place  and  politicians  in 
Iowa  had  him  more  or  less  in  mind  constantly  as  a  not- 
improbable  nominee. 

'^The  Dubtique  Herald,  Oct.  23,  1859. 
'The  Muscatine  Daily  Journal,  March  29,  1859. 
^De  Bow's   Review,   Vol.   XXIX,    pp.    100-101    (July,    1860). 
*The  Iowa  Weekly  Citizen,  April  13,  1859:  and  The  Davenport  Weekly 
Gazette,  Dec.   29,   1859. 


76  IOWA  AND  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

Mr.  Teesdale  in  August  and  again  in  November  refers 
specifically  to  the  public  consideration  of  Mr.  Lincoln  as  a 
candidate  for  the  first  place  and  expresses  his  willingness  to 
abide  by  the  nomination  if  made  after  a  full  consideration 
of  the  best  interests  of  the  party  and  the  cause  the  Repub- 
licans desire  to  promote.  IMoreover  in  a  list  of  candidates 
published  by  the  Democratic  paper  at  Des  Moines,  Mr.  Will 
Porter,  the  editor,  includes  Mr.  Lincoln.^ 

Some  of  the  most  interesting  evidence  of  the  national  con- 
sideration of  the  Illinoian  was  afforded  lowans  in  the  col- 
umns of  Greeley's  Tribune.  In  his  issue  of  September  27 
he  quotes  what  purports  to  be  an  extract  from  a  speech  of 
Congressman  Robert  Schenck  of  Ohio,  regarding  the  Presi- 
dency. Commenting  upon  Lincoln's  "masterly  political  ex- 
position made  in  this  city  [Cincinnati?]  to-day  by  Abraham 
Lincoln, ' '  he  says  "that  there  is  a  candidate  for  you,  whose  per- 
ceptions are  clear,  whose  moral  tendencies  are  correct,  and 
whose  constitutional  habit  of  action  is  so  happily  conservative, 
that  he  is  high  above  all  temptations  to  extremes  in  any  direc- 
tion. "^  Greeley,  himself,  two  weeks  and  a  half  later  (Oct. 
14)  in  an  elaborate  editorial  outlining  and  defending  "The 
Tribune's  policy"  mentions  Lincoln  among  other  candidates 
who  had  "friends  who  will  in  due  time  present  their  names  in 
connection  with  the  Presidency.  ..."  Finally  the  readers  of 
Mr.  Howell  were  impressed  with  the  widespread  and  positive 
consideration  of  Mr.  Lincoln  by  the  country  at  large  by  an 
editorial  note  in  The  Gate  City  (Dec.  13)  which  after  noting 
that  three  Iowa  papers  had  come  out  for  Cameron,  said :  "We 
observe  in  Pennsylvania  one  prominent  paper  proposes  Cam- 
eron for  President  and  Lincoln  for  Vice-President  while  the 
Reading  (Pa.)  Journal,  a  paper  of  standing  and  influence, 
intimates  its  preference  of  Lincoln  for  President." 

^lowa  State  Journal,  Nov.  19,  1859. 

-The  N.  Y.  Tribune  (s.  w.),  Sept.  27,  1859.  The  citation  from  The 
Tribune  is  somewhat  obscure.  It  purports  to  be  from  a  speech  of  Mr. 
Schenck's  at  Dayton.  But  his  reference  to  Mr.  Lincoln's  speech  in  "this 
city"  would  seem  to  imply  either  Columbus  or  Cincinnati, — as  all  chron- 
iclers concur  in  referring  only  to  Mr.  L.'s  speeches  in  those  two  cities. 
As  the  item  in  The  Tribune  above  the  extract  taken  is  accredited  to  The 
Cincinnati  Commercial  we  may  surmise  that  Mr.  S.  was  interviewed  at 
Cincinnati,  or  made  a  speech  there,  immediately  following  Mr.  Lincoln's 
speech. 


THE  REPUBLICAN  PRELIMINARIES  OF  1860  77 

(g)    Summary   of  Party   Opinion  in  1859. 

The  reader  will  have  noticed  several  facts  in  the  preceding 
exposition  of  party  opinion  among  Republicans  in  Iowa  in 
1859,  which  it  may  be  well  to  summarize  before  proceeding  to 
deal  with  the  personal  efforts  of  or  for  candidates  and  the 
party  maneuvers. 

First  and  foremost,  the  paramount  consideration  as  to  which 
all  elements  of  the  Opposition  to  the  party  in  power  agreed, 
was  Slavery  and  its  treatment  by  the  national  government. 
Other  matters  might  be  important,  but  they  were  subsidiary  in 
public  interest.  All  elements  of  the  Opposition  with  the 
exception  of  radical  abolitionists  resisted  the  extension  of 
Slavery  into  territories  where  it  was  not  found  prior  to  1850 
and  disapproved  of  interference  with  it  in  states  where  estab- 
lished. 

While  there  was  unanimity  of  opinion  in  the  large,  there 
was  confusion  in  respect  to  the  practical  enforcement  of  the 
legal  rights  of  slave-owners  in  the  free  states  and  in  the  settle- 
ment of  new  territories,  and  this  fact  made  the  working  union 
of  Old  Line  Whigs  and  abolitionists  difficult.  The  persistence 
of  "Americanism,"  a  sort  of  decadent  Know-Nothingism, 
greatly  increased  the  factional  antagonisms  of  the  sundry  ele- 
ments already  hostile  and  contentious  on  the  subject  of 
Slavery. 

The  election  of  1856  had  been  lost  by  the  Republicans 
because  of  the  inability  of  the  mutually  repellant  groups  of 
the  Opposition  to  coalesce.  Such  a  working  union  was  impera- 
tive if  the  party  was  to  win  in  the  contest  in  1860. 

A  coalition  was  impracticable  unless  there  was  mutual 
give-and-take ;  harmony  as  to  essentials  and  points  of  general 
agreement  and  non-emphasis  of  and  non-reference  to  particular 
contentions  that  irritated  and  distracted  factions  or  groups 
essential  to  the  party's  alignment. 

Principles  and  policies  all  agreed,  should  be  paramount  over 
the  personal  ambitions  of  candidates,  or  the  sectional  and  per- 
sonal preferences  for  favorite  candidates. 

The  doubtful  states  wherein  success  was  essential  to  national 
victory  should  be  the  primary  consideration  in  selecting  the 


78  IOWA  AND   ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

candidate.  But  it  was  not  enough  that  a  candidate  should  be 
satisfactory  to  this  or  that  doubtful  state :  he  must  enjoy  the 
fullest  confidence  of  the  rank  and  file  in  the  solid  Republican 
states  as  well,  as  regards  his  ability,  character  and  conduct 
in  the  vital  issues.  Indifference  to  the  subject  of  Slavery,  ter- 
giversation as  to  views  or  course  of  action  would  not  be 
sanctioned. 

No  commercial  considerations  hostile  to  the  broadest  treat- 
ment of  the  issues,  no  personal  intrigues,  no  tricks,  no  factional 
or  partisan  maneuvers  inconsistent  with  frank  and  fair  con- 
sideration of  the  characters  and  availability  of  candidates 
would  be  tolerated. 

Iowa  had  no  candidate  of  her  own  to  advance,  and  her 
editors  and  party  leaders  had  no  favorite  whose  nomination 
was  urged  with  any  vigor.  Few  personal  preferences  were 
indicated.     The  spirit  of  rule  or  ruin  was  completely  absent. 

In  general  there  was  a  noteworthy  harmony  among  the  Re- 
publicans of  Iowa  in  1859  regarding  the  principles  and  pro- 
cedure that  should  be  observed  in  preparing  for  the  great 
national  contest  of  1860.  They  were  generally  of  one  mind 
as  to  the  paramount  issues.  Success  with  a  sane  and  sensible 
program  was  to  them  vastly  preferable  to  defeat  with  a  plat- 
form of  idealities  compounded  by  dreamers  and  radicals. 
Some  party  men  had  candidates  whom  they  favored  and  urged, 
but  for  the  most  part  editors  and  leaders  were  reticent.  Vic- 
tory was  the  goal  they  sought,  not  the  exaltation  of  a  favorite 
at  the  risk  of  success. 

5 — Efforts  of  Ca7ididates  or  their  Promoters  in  Iowa. 

The  amount  and  kind  of  personal  effort  put  forth  by  the 
candidates  for  the  Republican  presidential  nomination  in 
1860,  or  by  their  promoters,  directly  to  secure  the  favor  and 
support  of  Iowa's  press  and  party  leaders  cannot  now  be 
realized.  There  was  more  or  less  personal  activity,  although 
the  evidence  is  rather  meager  as  regards  some  of  the  candi- 
dates. 

The  State  was  then  teeming  with  thousands  of  pioneers  but 
recently  removed  from  the  older  states  to  the  east  and  south 


THE  REPUBLICAN  PRELIMINARIES  OF  1860  79 

wherein  the  candidates  lived.  Many  of  those  pioneers  had 
been  forceful  factors  in  the  politics  of  their  former  homes. 
For  example.  Gov.  Samuel  J.  Kirkwood  and  the  late  Senator 
William  B.  Allison  had  both  made  their  mark  in  Ohio  before 
emigrating  to  lowa.^  Naturally,  the  candidates  or  their 
promoters  would  correspond  with  their  emigrant  friends  in 
Iowa  seeking  information  as  to  their  attitude,  or  that  of  the 
party  leaders  of  the  State  towards  their  candidacy ;  and  no  less 
would  the  pioneers,  if  local  ambitions  or  interests  did  not  con- 
flict, incline  to  urge  the  consideration  of  their  favorite  cham- 
pion of  their  native  state,  or  state  of  previous  residence. 
Mentioning  merely  those  states  whose  emigrant  citizens  resi- 
dent in  Iowa  in  1860  exceeded  10,000  in  the  census  enumera- 
tion : — Ohio  led  with  99,240 ;  Indiana  followed  with  57,555 ; 
Pennsylvania  with  52,156 ;  New  York  with  46,053 ;  Illinois 
with  26.696 ;  Virginia  with  17,944 ;  and  Kentucky  with  13,204. 
The  natives  of  New  England  all  told  in  Iowa  numbered  only 
25,040;  while  the  natives  of  the  Southern  or  slave  States 
amounted  to  54,006.  The  Middle  States  were  credited  with 
103,173  and  the  states  of  the  old  Northwest  territory  with 
193,005.  Being  but  recently  removed  from  their  old  homes 
their  memories  and  the  ties  of  their  relations  with  associates 
in  their  ancestral  seats  were  vigorous.  As  the  arrangements 
for  the  national  Republican  convention  began  to  materialize 
we  must  presume  that  many  a  letter  crossed,  inquiring  about 
or  urging  this  or  that  candidate,  discussing  his  availability, 
and  the  chances  of  his  nomination  and  election.  But  little 
evidence  is  discoverable  of  such  correspondence  in  1859,  either 
in  the  way  of  letters  extant  or  of  rescripts  thereof.  The  resi- 
dence of  many  of  the  influential  editors  of  the  State  prior  to 

^John  Sherman's  Recollections,  pp.  46,  76. 

Gov.  Kirkwood  had  attained  local  eminence  between  1845  and  1849  aa 
prosecuting  attorney  of  Richland  county  and  as  a  member  of  the  Consti- 
tutional Convention  of  Ohio.  He  was  a  Democrat  in  politics  but  on  the 
repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise  he  revolted.  At  a  mass  meeting  at 
Mansfield,  Feb.  17,  1854,  he  introduced  and  urged  the  passage  of  a  strong 
resolution  deploring  the  agitation  of  the  slavery  question  and  repudiating 
the  repeal  of  the  Compromise.  He  was  a  prominent  candidate  for  Con- 
gress in   1855 — the  year  in  which  he  emigrated  to  Iowa. 

Mr.  Allison  began  his  public  career  as  an  attorney  at  Ashland,  in 
Wayne  county  adjoining  Richland.  He  was  a  candidate  for  clerk  of  the 
county  court.  He  was  made  secretary  of  the  first  Republican  state  con- 
vention organized  in  Ohio  in  1855.  His  first  party  service  of  note  in  Iowa 
was  attendance  as  a  delegate  at  the  Republican  state  convention  in  1859 
and  working  for  Kirkwood's  nomination  for  governor. 


80 


IOWA  AND   ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 


coming  to  Iowa  enforces  this  presumption  and  their  columns 
afford  us  some  evidence  that  there  was  intercommunication 
between  them  and  the  candidates  or  their  promoters.^ 

(a)  Judge  McLean  Visits  the  Northwest. 
"When  visiting  old  acquaintances  in  Ohio  in  March,  Mr.  Tees- 
dale  designed  to  visit  Judge  iMcLean  at  his  old  home  in  Cin- 
cinnati.   Writing  to  his  readers  in  Iowa  Mr.  Teesdale  reports: 
"He  is,  I  am  told,  in  excellent  health  and  spirits.    Who  knows 

^The  states  of  nativity,  or  of  previous  residence,  and  the  editorial 
careers  of  the  editors  whose  expressions  have  been  chiefly  cited  are  sug- 
firestive. 

Mr.  A.  B.  P.  Hildreth  of  The  St.  Charles  Intelligencer  was  a  "Vermonter. 
In  1S39  he  founded  The  Literary  Souvenir  at  Lowell,  Mass.,  and  also 
conducted  The  Morning  News  (daily)  of  that  city.  In  1842  he  went  to 
Bradford,  Vt.,  where  he  published  The  Greeyi  Mountain  Gem  and  The 
American  Protector  (an  advocate  of  high  tariffs).  From  1844  to  1852, 
in  lieu  of  the  latter,  he  published  The  Family  Gazette;  and  from  1853  to 
1855  he  published  The  Mirror,  of  Holyoke,  Mass.  He  came  to  St.  Charles, 
Iowa,  in  1856. 

Mr.  Charles  Aldrich  of  The  Hamilton  Freeman  of  Webster  City,  was 
a  native  of  New  York.  In  1850  he  established  The  Cattaraugus  Sachem 
at  Randolph.  From  1851  to  1856  he  edited  and  published  The  Olean 
Journal.  When  but  19  years  of  age  he  was  made  secretary  of  the  first 
Free  Soil  convention  held  in  Cattaraugus  county.     He  came  to  Iowa  in  1857. 

Mr.  Frank  W.  Palmer  of  The  Times,  of  Dubuque,  although  born  in 
Indiana  was  virtually  a  New  Yorker,  spending  his  childhood  and  youth  at 
Jamestown.     From  1848  to  1858  he  published  The  Jamestown  Journal.     In 

1853  he  was  elected  to  the  New  York  legislature,  serving  two  terms.  He 
came  to  Dubuque,  Iowa,  in  1858. 

Mr.  Jacob  Rich  of  The  Guardian  of  Quasqueton,  and  later  of  Independ- 
ence, was  a  native  of  New  York  City.  He  was  educated  at  Philadelphia. 
He  came  to  Iowa  in  1856. 

Mr.  John  Edwards  of  The  Patriot  of  Chariton,  was  born  in  Kentucky. 
Anti-slavery  convictions  sent  him  to  Indiana,  where  he  served  in  the  state 
legislature  between  1848  and  1852.     He  came  to  Iowa  in  1853. 

Mr.  William  W.  Junkin  of  The  Ledger  of  Fairfield,  was  a  native  of  Vir- 
ginia. He  learned  the  printer's  craft  in  the  offices  of  The  Argus  of 
Wheeling.     He  came  to  Iowa  in  1843. 

Mr.  Thomas  Drummond  of  The  Eagle  of  Vinton,  was  born  in  Virginia, 
was  educated  at  Lexington,  entered  journalism,  moved  to  Ohio  after  1850 
and  came  to  Iowa  in  1855.     He  bought  The  Eagle  in  1857. 

Mr.  Clark  Dunham  of  The  Hawk-Eye  of  Burlington  was  a  Vermonter 
by  birth,  but  spent  his  childhood  in  Licking  county,  Ohio.     From   1840   to 

1854  he  edited  The  Gazette  of  Newark,  Ohio,  moving  to  Iowa  in  the  latter 
year. 

Mr.  James  B.  Howell  of  The  Gate  City  of  Keokuk,  although  a  native  of 
New  Jersey,  spent  his  youth  in  Ohio  from  1819  to  1841,  when  he  removed 
to  Iowa.  The  business  manager  of  The  Gate  City  from  1854  to  1860  was 
Mr.  Wm.  Richards,  a  native  of  Ohio,  who  moved  to  Iowa  in  1854. 

Mr.  Addison  H.  Sanders  of  The  Gazette  of  Davenport,  was  a  native  of 
Cincinnati,  Ohio,  where  he  learned  the  printer's  trade.  He  came  to  Iowa 
in  1856. 

Mr.  John  Mahln  of  The  Journal  of  Muscatine,  was  a  native  of  Indiana, 
but  early  came  to'  Iowa,  learning  the  printer's  trade  in  the  office  of  the 
Bloomington    (now  Muscatine)    Herald,  later  called  the  Journal. 

Mr.  John  Teesdale  of  The  Iowa  Weekly  Citizen  of  Des  Moines,  was 
born  in  York.  England,  but  came  with  his  parents  to  Philadelphia  in  1818. 
There  he  learned  printing.  He  went  to  "UTieeling,  Virginia,  where  between 
1830  and  1836  he  was  editor  of  The  Gazette  and  later  of  The  Times.  From 
1836  to  1843  he  edited  The  Ohio  Standard;  and  from  1843  to  1848  he  edited 
The  Ohio  State  Journal  of  Columbus,  and  between  1848  and  1856  The 
Beacon  of  Akron.  Meantime  (1844-46)  he  had  been  private  secretary 
to  (5ov.  Mordecai  Bartley.  Mr.  Teesdale's  associate  editor,  Mr.  J.  M. 
Dixon,  a  son  of  a  Virginia  Methodist  circuit  riding  preacher,  was  also  a 
native   of    Ohio. 


THE  REPUBLICAN  PRELIMINARIES  OF  1860  81 

but  he  may  yet  be  called  to  a  higher  field  in  the  service  of  his 
country.  Upon  no  man  in  public  life  could  a  riore  cordial 
union  be  effected  for  the  next  presidency,  than  upon  Judge 
McLean,  if  his  age  is  not  deemed  objectionable.  Mr.  Chase  is 
much  spoken  of  in  the  same  connection  by  the  people  of  Ohio. 
.  .  .  "^  In  the  last  week  of  September  The  Times  of  Dubuque 
announced:  "Judge  McLean,  of  the  supreme  court,  came 
do'WTi  the  river  last  evening,  and  is  spending  the  day  at  the 
Julien  House.  He  is  in  fine  health.  At  noon  about  twenty 
members  of  the  bar  called  upon  him.  .  .  .  The  interview  was 
very  pleasant.  Judge  McLean  is  vigorous  both  in  body  and  in 
mind,  and  very  easy  and  agreeable  in  conversation.  .  .  .  The 
Judge  has  relatives  in  Minnesota,  and  has  been  paying  them  a 
visit.  "2 

Business  interests  and  relatives  are  of  course  appropriate 
objects  of  exclusive  private  concern ;  but  when  a  man  who  is 
constantly  mentioned  as  a  desirable  candidate  and  a  not  im- 
probable nominee  for  a  high  political  office,  makes  an  extended 
journey  through  a  region  of  primary  strategic  importance, 
alert  politicians  are  wont  to  note  the  fact  as  in  the  nature  of  a 
reconnaissance.  Judge  McLean's  visit  was  noticed  by  some 
of  the  editors  and  his  health  and  agreeable  manners  referred 
to.^  ]\Ir.  Teesdale  remarked:  "We  rejoice  that  he  received 
fitting  attention  at  Dubuque.  He  is  one  of  the  purest  and 
best  men  of  the  country.  We  have  experienced  his  hospitality 
and  witnessed  his  unostentatious  kindness  in  days  gone  by, 
when  visiting  Cincinnati  and  residing  at  the  capital  of  Ohio. 
A  recent  letter  from  the  Judge  [to  ]\Ir.  T.]  written  at  Lake 
Pepin,  with  all  the  freedom  of  private  intercourse,  attests 
the  vigor  of  his  intellect  and  the  activity  of  his  life."^  The 
reiteration  respecting  the  jurist's  health  and  the  vigor  of  his 
life  and  mental  powers  suggests  the  politician's  solicitude  that 
the  doubts  of  critics  or  dubious  friends  were  not  only  ill- 
founded  but  that  rumors  to  the  contrary  were,  or  very  likely 
were,  promoted  with  injurious  intent. 

No  evidence  of  personal  solicitation  on  behalf  of  Judge  Mc- 
Lean's  candidacy  has  come  under  the  writer's  notice.     He 

^The  Iowa  Weekly  Citizen,  April  13,  1859:  Correspondence  dated  Akron, 
Ohio,  March  26. 

2/b.,  September  28,  1859:  The  Dubuque  Times  cited.    */b. 

6 


82  IOWA  AND   ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

had  some  active  admirers,  however.  In  the  latter  part  of 
December,  pursuant  to  the  call  of  the  state  convention  to  select 
delegates  to  the  Chicago  convention,  friends  or  party  leaders 
in  the  farthermost  southwestern  corner  of  the  State,  in  Fre- 
mont coimty,  were  either  so  numerous  or  so  alert,  forehanded 
and  effective  as  to  secure  the  passage  by  the  county  convention 
that  selected  the  county  delegates  to  the  state  convention,  of  a 
resolution  declaring  that  "Hon.  John  McLean  of  Ohio  is  our 
first  choice  for  President, '  '^  thereby  virtually  instructing  their 
delegates  to  the  state  convention  to  use  their  influence  to  secure 
his  nomination. 

(b)  Friends  of  Chase  and  Cameron  Active. 

Salmon  P.  Chase,  as  biographers  and  associates  have  since 
shown,  was  not  indisposed  to  promote  his  chances  of  securing 
the  nomination  by  personal  communication.  He  had  many 
staunch  admirers  and  friends  in  Iowa.  Governor  Grimes  had, 
in  former  years  carried  on  a  cordial  and  intimate  correspond- 
ence with  him,  esteeming  highly  his  ability,  character  and  pub- 
lic career.  Governor-elect  Kirkwood,  because  of  old-time 
party  affiliations  in  Ohio,  entertained  the  friendliest  of  feel- 
ings for  him.  Both  of  those  distinguished  lowans,  could  they 
have  realized  their  primary  preferences,  Avould  have  thrown 
their  influence  at  Chicago  in  1860  in  favor  of  Chase's  nomina- 
tion.- The  late  Senator  "Wm.  B.  Allison,  because  of  former 
associations  in  Ohio,  advocated  Chase's  nomination  and  cast 
his  first  vote  for  him  the  next  year  at  the  national  convention,* 
The  business  manager  of  The  Gate  City,  Mr.  Wm.  Richards, 
was  an  Ohioan  who  some  years  previously  had  enjoyed  some 
degree  of  intimacy  with  Gov.  Chase.  He  desired  the  success 
of  the  latter 's  candidacy.  From  a  letter  written  subsequent 
to  the  state  convention  (Jan.  18,  1860)  it  would  appear  that 
he  acted  as  an  outflanker  and  vidette  for  him,  reporting  condi- 
tions and  prospects  in  Iowa.*     The  only  instance  of  instrue- 

!/&.,  Jan.  18,  1860. 

=Salter's  Life  of  Grimes  passim;  and  letters  (MSS.)  to  the  writer  from 
Dr.  Salter,  Mr.  W.  W.  Baldwin  both  of  Burlington,  and  Hon.  Peter  A. 
Dey  of  Iowa  City. 

^Letters  (MSS.)  of  Sen.  Wm.  B.  Allison  to  the  writer,  Dec.  13,  1906, 
and  May  3,   1907. 

*"Wm.  Richards  to  Salmon  P.  Chase  (MSS.),  Gate  City  Office,  February 
24,  1860,  in  Chase  papers  in  Library  of  Congress. 


THE  REPUBLICAN  PRELIMINARIES  OF  1860  83 

tions  for  a  presidential  candidate  in  the  local  caucuses  or  pri- 
maries, so  far  as  the  writer  can  discover,  resulted  in  Chase's 
favor.  Two  Ohioans,  the  brothers,  F,  T.  and  A.  K.  Campbell, 
editors  and  publishers  of  The  Journal  of  Newton,  the  county 
seat  of  Jasper  county,  took  the  lead  in  securing  instructions  in 
the  party  caucus  that  selected  the  delegates  to  the  county 
convention,  being  prompted  thereto  by  admiration  of  Gov. 
Chase's  career  in  their  native  state.^  In  December  The  Herald 
of  Pacific  City  declared  specifically  in  favor  of  Chase's  nom- 
ination.- 

Pennsylvanians  were  numerous  in  Iowa ;  and  the  universally 
conceded  strategic  importance  of  Pennsylvania  in  the  national 
contest  would  ordinarily  induce  energetic  efforts  on  the  part 
of  the  candidate  or  of  his  promoters  to  secure  the  support  of 
the  party  leaders  and  delegates.  There  are  some  signs  that 
there  was  more  or  less  activity.  We  have  already  seen  that 
there  was  a  marked  increase  of  consideration  of  the  candidacy 
of  Simon  Cameron  in  December  and  one  suspects  systematic 
work  in  its  furtherance.  We  find  Mr.  Teesdale  expressing  his 
thanks  to  Mr.  Cameron  for  a  copy  of  an  "  able  speech ' '  deliv- 
ered by  the  latter  in  the  Senate.^  In  Illinois  Cameron  Clubs 
were  forming  in  November  and  Mr,  Teesdale  refers  to  them 
in  terms  whence  we  might  infer  that  similar  organizations 
were  in  contemplation  or  under  way  in  Iowa.*  Three  strong 
papers  in  southern  Iowa,  The  News  of  Mt.  Pleasant,  The  Jour- 
nal of  Knoxville  and  The  Patriot  of  Chariton,  and  one  in 
northeast  Iowa,  The  Linn  County  Register  of  Marion,  an- 
nounced themselves  as  favorable  to  his  nomination.^  Refer- 
ring to  this  coincidence,  Mr.  Hildreth  intimated  his  suspicion 
that  Mr.  Cameron  or  his  agents  were  busy  in  the  State  ' '  fixing 
the  flints"  to  secure  the  Pennsylvanian 's  nomination :  hence  the 
concurrent  expressions  of  the  papers  mentioned.^  The  cor- 
respondence of  Mr.  Wm.  Penn  Clarke,  chairman  of  Iowa's 
delegation  at  Chicago,  subsequent  to  the  convention,  seems  to 
indicate  that  there  had  been  correspondence  between  him  and 


^The  Gate  City,  Jan.  11,  1860:  and  interview  with  Mr.  A.  K.  Campbell, 

Des  Moines,  Iowa,  March  17,  1908.  

^The  Iowa  Weekly  Citizen,  Dec.   21,  1859.     Hh.,  Dec.   7,    1859. 
Hh.,  Nov.   23,  1859.     ^The  Gate  City,  Dec.   13,   1859. 
*The  St.  Charles  Intelligencer,  Jan.  12,  1860. 


84 


IOWA  AND  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 


Cameron's   chief  lieutenants   during  the  preliminaries;   but 
when  it  occurred  is  not  now  determinable.^ 

(c)   Edward  Bates  and  the  Sources  of  His  Strength. 

The  personal  activity  of  Edward  Bates  of  St.  Louis,  or  that 
of  his  friends  in  furtherance  of  his  candidacy  is  to  be  inferred 
from  the  general  situation.     Prior  to  1860  St.  Louis  was  to 
Iowa  what,  since,  Chicago  has  become,  the  great  entrepot  of 
her  interstate  commerce.     Iowa's  farmers  and  shippers  sent 
their  produce  and  stock  to  her  markets  and  chiefly  from  the 
jobbing  houses  of  that  city,  Iowa's  merchants  obtained  their 
stocks  of  drugs,  dry-goods,  groceries  and  hardwares.^     The 
river  traffic  of  the  Upper  Mississippi  and  Missouri  was  pre- 
dominantly an  outgo  from  and  return  to  the  docks  of  St.  Louis. 
In  the  nature  of  the  case  the  affiliations  of  business  and  pro- 
fessional men,  particularly  in  the  eastern  cities  of  Iowa  along 
the  Mississippi,  with  the  leaders  in  business  and  professional 
pursuits  in  that  city  must  have  been  close  and  constant.     In 
that  commercial  metropolis  Judge  Bates  was  a  conspicuous 
citizen.     One  of  the  popular  boats  plying  between  St.  Louis 
and  Keokuk  in  the  forepart  of  the  dei^ade  was  the  "Edward 
Bates.  "^    So  pronounced  was  the  admiration  of  some  lowans 
that  children  were  named  after  him-*    Before  the  bar  and  on 
the  bench,  in  the  constitutional  convention  and  in  the  legis- 
lature of  Missouri  and  in  Congress  his  reputation  had  gained 
steadily  in  praiseworthy  prominence.    In  1847  as  president  of 
the   Convention   for  Internal   Improvements   at   Chicago  he 
"made  a  favorable  impression  upon  the  country  at  large. "^ 
His  declination  of  a  cabinet  portfolio  tendered  him  by  Presi- 
dent Fillmore  in  1850,  signalized  his  national  reputation  and 
influence.    In  1854  Greeley's  readers  in  Iowa  learned  that  his 
powers  as  a  public  speaker  impressed  strongly  the  most  critical 

^Correspondence  of  Wm.  Penn  Clarke  (MSS.)  in  Aldrich  Collection, 
Historical  Department  of  Iowa,   at  Des   Moines. 

^Langworthy,  Duhuque,  Its  History,  etc.,  passim  and  Burrows,  Fifty 
Years  in  Iowa  (1838-1888)  passim. 

^The  Weekly  Dispatch,  June  8,  1848. 

*Mr.  Edwin  Manning  of  Keosauqua,  one  of  the  most  prominent  and 
wealthiest  business  men  among  the  pioneers  of  Iowa,  was  an  enthusiastic 
admirer  of  Judge  Bates.  He  gave  one  of  his  sons  the  Judge's  surname  for 
a  given  name.  He  also  distributed  subscriptions  to  Greeley's  weekly 
Tribune  gratuitously  among  his  friends  at  the  time  Greeley  was  urging 
Judge  Bates  for  the  presidency.  Interview  with  the  late  Geo.  C.  Duf- 
field  of  Keosauqua  and  Hon.  C.  C.  Nourse  of  Des  Moines. 

sAppleton's  Cyclopedia  of  American  Biography,  V.  1,  p.   193. 


THE  REPUBLICAN  PRELIMINARIES  OF  1860  85 

of  eastern  observers.^  We  have  seen  that  the  announcement 
of  his  candidacy  was  received  by  the  Republican  editors  of 
Iowa  with  but  little  adverse  criticism  and  generally  with  con- 
siderable favor,  increasing  very  decidedly  towards  the  end 
of  the  year.  Interviews  with  him,  his  letters  and  speeches  indi- 
cating his  views  on  the  vital  issues  of  the  day,  were  generously 
reproduced  in  their  columns. 

The  most  prominent  advocate  of  Judge  Bates'  nomination — 
probably  the  prime  mover  on  his  behalf — was  Mr.  John  A. 
Kasson  of  Des  Moines,  then  chairman  of  the  Republican  state 
central  committee.  His  course  illustrates  very  strikingly  the 
immediate  influence  of  environment  and  personal  associations 
on  men's  political  conduct.  Mr.  Kasson  was  bom  and  edu- 
cated in  Vermont  and  entered  the  legal  profession  in  Massa- 
chusetts. His  ability  and  activity  may  be  inferred  from  the 
fact  that  in  1848  he  was  sent  as  a  delegate  from  Massachu- 
setts to  the  national  Free  Soil  convention  at  Buffalo  along  with 
Charles  Francis  Adams,  Sr.  In  1851  he  came  west,  settling  at 
St.  Louis.  He  very  soon  entered  into  a  law  partnership  with 
Mr.  B.  Gratz  Brown,  a  notable  citizen  of  Missouri  and  editor 
of  the  St.  Louis  Democrat.  Mr.  Brown  was  foremost  in  pro- 
moting the  candidacy  of  Judge  Bates  and  was  chairman  of 

iln  view  of  the  controversy  as  to  the  animus  of  Greeley's  course  in  re- 
fusing to  promote  the  candidacy  of  Seward  and  his  final  advocacy  of  the 
nomination  of  Judge  Bates  at  Chicago,  the  following  from  what  we  may 
suspect  was  "editorial  correspondence"  (i.  e.  from  the  pen  of  either  Charles 
A.  Dana  or  Horace  Greeley)  is  interesting.  Tlie  occasion  was  an  excursion 
into  the  Northwest,  projected  by  the  promoters  of  the  Chicago  and  Rock 
Island  Railroad  Company,  consisting  of  notables  from  the  east ;  among  the 
number  were  ex-President  Millard  Fillmore,  Geo.  Bancroft,  E.  E.  Hale, 
Professor  Benj.  Silliman,  Thurlow  Weed,  Catherine  Sedgwick  and  Count 
Adam  Gurowski.  At  Galena  a  reception  and  banquet  were  given  in  honor 
of  ex-President  Fillmore  and  to  one  of  the  toasts  Judge  Bates  was  asked 
to  respond.     Of  his  response  the  correspondent  of  The  Tribune  says : 

"That  of  Mr.  Bates  was  listened  to  with  particular  interest  by  those  of 
us  who  had  not  before  enjoyed  an  opportunity  of  seeing  this  distinguished 
man.  It  was  simple  and  without  effort,  spoken  in  a  very  qiiiet  and  straight- 
forward manner,  but  with  one  or  two  toui;hes  that  lietrayed  the  orator. 
It  is  much  to  be  regretted  that  Mr.  Bates  has  never  taken  that  leading 
part  in  our  public  affairs  which  he  might  have  filled  so  honorably  and 
advantageously  to  himself  and  the  country." — .V.  Y.  Tribune  (w. ),  June 
17,  1854:  Correspondence  dated  at  St.  Paul,  Minn..  June  Jith. 

The  dissolution  of  the  firm  of  Greeley,  Seward  and  Weed  did  not  take 
place  until  1856. 

Judge  Bates  seems  to  have  made  very  lasting  impressions  as  an  orator. 
Writing  thirteen  years  after  the  Rivers  and  Harbors  Convention  at  Chicago, 
in  1847,  a  brilliant  correspondent  of  The  Springfield  (Mass.)  Republican, 
writing  from  Burlington,  Iowa,  Feb.  4,  1860 — and  a  hostile  critic  of  Judge 
Bates  as  a  candidate  for  the  presidency — says  of  his  effort  on  that  occa- 
sion ;  he  "carried  away  the  whole  audience  in  the  two  emotions  of  aston- 
ishment and  delight  by  his  retiring  speech."  Correspondence  reprinted  In 
the  Daily  Hawk-Eye,  Feb.  16,   1860. 


86  IOWA  AND  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

Missouri's  delegation  at  Chicago.  Mr.  Kasson  came  to  Des 
Moines  in  1857  but  the  ties  of  his  friendships  and  business 
affiliations  with  St.  Louis  continued  and  they  in  no  small 
degree,  caused  him  in  the  preliminaries  to  favor  the  nomina- 
tion of  his  friend  and  professional  associate  in  St.  Louis  at 
the  national  convention.^  Mr.  Joseph  Eiboeck  of  Garnavillo, 
as  previously  mentioned,  advocated  his  nomination.  ]Mr. 
Edwin  jNIanning  of  Keosauqua,  because  of  business  and  per- 
sonal relations,  also  promoted  it.^  The  Republicans  of  Fre- 
mont county,  when  they  by  resolution  declared  for  Judge 
McLean  for  President,  at  the  same  time  proclaimed  Judge 
Bates  to  be  their  choice  for  Vice-President.^  The  Journal  of 
Knoxville  likewise  urged  him  for  Vice-President.* 

(d)   Seward  arid  the  Silence  of  His  Friends. 

Activity — either  individual  or  concerted — on  behalf  of 
Senator  Seward's  nomination  was  conspicuous  by  its  absence, 
at  least  so  far  as  discoverable  signs  would  indicate:  and  the 
reasons  therefor  are  by  no  means  clear.  His  friends  and  advo- 
cates were  active  and  forehanded  in  Oregon  in  1859,  securing, 
in  April,  instructions  to  the  delegates  to  the  national  conven- 
tion to  work  for  his  nomination.^  In  1860  systematic  and 
successful  efforts  on  his  behalf  were  put  forth  in  Michigan, 
Wisconsin,  Minneosta,  Kansas,  Texas,  Virginia,  and  Massa- 
chusetts to  secure  either  instructions  or  delegations  favorable 
to  him.  In  Iowa,  as  elscAvhere,  he  was  a  favorite  cham- 
pion with  the  majority  of  the  aggressive  anti-slavery  ele- 
ments. His  eminence  in  national  councils  and  his  fame  had 
been  household  words  since  the  days  of  his  governorship  in 
New  York.  Plus  all  these,  the  political  acumen,  the  extensive 
and  facile  connections,  business  and  political,  and  the  vast 
resources  of  his  field  worker  and  manager,  Mr.  Thurlow  Weed, 
were  noteworthy.  Iowa  was  among  the  first,  if  indeed  not  the 
first,  to  call  a  special  state  convention  to  select  delegates  to  the 
national  convention.     Nevertheless,  the  Republican  press  of 

iMr.  John  A.   Kasson  to  the  writer   (MSS.)    Aug.   28,   1906. 

*See  foot-note,    ante. 

^The  Iowa   Weekly  Citizen,  Jan.   18,    1860. 

*The  Muscatine  Daily  Journal,  Dec.   9,    1859. 

^The  Oregon  Statesman,  April  26,  1859. 


THE  REPUBLICAN  PRELIMINARIES  OF  1860  87 

Iowa  in  1859  was  almost  wholly  silent.  A  solitary  editor  at 
DeAVitt  declared  specifically  for  his  nomination.  Mr.  Tees- 
dale  asserted  his  belief  in  April  that  the  statesman  of  Auburn 
was  the  real  choice  of  the  Republicans  of  Iowa  but  he  did  not 
urge  his  nomination,  and,  on  November  30th  he  even  doubts 
whether  the  Senator  from  New  York  covets  the  nomination. 

This  reticence  as  regards  Seward  in  1859  is  somewhat 
strange  except  on  one  hypothesis.  Mr,  Eiboeck,  it  will  be 
recalled,  stated  categorically  that  Seward  would  "stand  no 
chance  with  Bates,  for  reasons  that  are  known  to  every  one." 
Those  reasons  must  have  been  that  the  senior  Senator  from 
New  York  was  looked  upon  by  the  majority  of  the  experienced 
party  workers  in  Iowa  as  a  radical  of  an  extreme  and  danger- 
ous sort,  whose  selection  was  unlikely  because  his  nomination 
would  endanger  the  success  of  the  party  at  the  polls.  There 
is  much  to  confirm  this  surmise.  His  doctrine  of  "Higher 
Law"  and  his  expression  "The  Irrepressible  Conflict"  and 
sundry  broad  generalities  accompanying  it,  while  defensible  on 
ultimate  grounds  of  economics  and  ethics,  seemed  by  implica- 
tion to  warrant  lawlessness  and  direct  attack  upon  the  prop- 
erty rights  of  slaveholders.  The  N.  Y.  Herald  referred  to  his 
"brutal  and  bloody"  program.  The  Democratic  press  of  Iowa 
dealt  with  him  in  like  terms.  The  Sentinel  of  Ft.  Dodge  under 
the  caption  ' '  Political  Twins, ' '  reprints  a  slashing  article  from 
The  Chicago  Herald  proclaiming  the  similarities  of  the  views 
of  Seward  and  AVendell  Phillips,  that  Prince  Rupert  of  Rad- 
icals. New  York's  Senator  is  "the  father  of  Black  Republi- 
canism and  the  great  leader  of  those  unfortunate  monomaniacs 
who  expect  to  elect  him  President  ..."  whose  "mandate" 
was  the  * '  Higher  Law ' '  which  ordained  that  ' '  Slavery  must  be 
abolished."  The  views  of  this  "teacher  in  the  Israel  of 
treason"  were  all  of  a  piece  with  those  of  Phillips  who  had 
declared  that  the  "merit"  of  the  Republican  party  lay  in  the 
fact  that  it  was  a  "sectional  party.  ...  It  is  the  North  arrayed 
against  the  South"  and  secession  and  separation  are  predicted 
by  that  silver-tongued  seer  with  satisfaction.^  Following  what 
Mr.  Howell  designated  "The  emeute  at  Harper's  Ferry  in 

^The  Ft.  Dodge  Sentinel,  Nov.  26,  1859. 


88  IOWA  AND  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

which  a  score  of  insane  white  men  and  idiotic  negroes  seized 
the  United  States  Armory  .  .  ."^  Democratic  denunciation  of 
Seward  as  a  fomenter  of  anarchy  and  an  abettor  of  treason 
reached  a  point  of  furj''  not  far  from  frenzy.  Two  events  es- 
pecially encourafred  it.  Very  soon  after  the  affair  at  Harper's 
Ferrj^  he  was  publicly  charged  with  having  had  treasonable 
correspondence  with  John  Brown  or  his  backers.  Again  his 
name  appeared  among  the  endorsers  of  Helper's  Impending 
Crisis  that  produced  such  a  terrific  uproar  and  upset  in  the 
organization  of  the  national  House  of  Representatives  in  De- 
cember, 1859 :  and  the  pith  and  point  of  that  notorious  book 
was  ' '  Slavery  must  be  abolished. ' '  Mr.  Zieback  of  Sioux  City 
reprints  extensive  portions  of  a  scathing  article  in  The  Louis- 
mile  Journal  denouncing  Seward's  criminal  knowledge  of 
Brown's  conspiracy,  guarding  "the  villainous  secret"  as 
effectually  as  the  "arch-conspirator"  himself.  His  offense 
was  black  enough, — even  if  no  more  than  "criminal  lack  of 
courage"  to  speak  out  and  reveal  the  "atrocious  scheme," — 
to  "redden  the  cheeks  of  every  citizen  in  the  land."-  The 
vigor  of  the  indictment  of  Seward  was  not  lessened  by  the 
fact  that  The  Louisville  Journal,  under  the  brilliant  editorship 
of  George  D.  Prentice,  was  one  of  the  stoutest  Opposition 
papers  in  the  country.  One  finds  no  defense  of  Seward  by  the 
Republican  press  in  Iowa  against  the  ferocious  attacks  of  the 
Democratic  press.  Their  silence  may  have  been  utter  con- 
tempt for  them  or  it  may  have  been  due  to  a  sub-conscious 
feeling  that  they  could  not  make  a  very  satisfactory  defense. 
The  marked  change  that  took  place  in  the  sentiment  of  the 
leaders  and  the  press  of  the  State  after  Seward's  speech  in 
the  Senate  February  27,  1860,  affords  rather  strong  evidence 
in  confirmation  of  the  explanation  here  suggested  for  the  reti- 
cence of  lowans  towards  the  candidacy  of  the  Senator  from 
New  York  in  1859. 

(e)  Abraham  Lincoln's  Relations  With  Iowa  and  lowans. 

That  Abraham  Lincoln  in  1859  was  not  unmindful  of  his 
chances  for  securing  the  Republican  nomination  for  the  Presi- 

^The  Gate  City,  Oct.  24,  1859. 

^The  Sioux  City  Register,  Dec.  10,  1859. 


THE  REPUBLICAN  PRELIMINARIES  OP  1860  89 

dency  in  1860  his  correspondence  and  biographers  show.  That 
he  was  not  averse  by  proper  methods  to  promoting  them  by 
pen  or  in  person  we  know.  There  is  considerable  reason  for 
thinking  that  he  had  his  eye  on  Iowa  and  cultivated  the  favor- 
able opinion  of  her  people  and  her  Republican  party  leaders. 
What  is  no  less  to  the  point  lowans  and  the  chiefs  of  the 
Republican  party  in  Iowa  for  many  years  sought  the  personal 
acquaintance  and  political  influence  of  Abraham  Lincoln. 

As  early  as  1844  Mr.  James  W.  Grimes,  or  some  other  party 
chief  in  Burlington,  tried  to  secure  Mr.  Lincoln  for  a  speech 
at  a  mass  meeting  of  the  Whigs  in  that  city  on  July  13th  of 
that  year ;  and  he  seems  to  have  promised  to  come.^  In  1856 
two  other  efforts  were  made  to  secure  him  for  speeches  in  the 
political  canvass :  in  June  Governor  Grimes,-  and  in  late  Au- 
gust or  early  September  Mr.  Henry  O'Connor  of  Muscatine, 
writing  him  urging  his  acceptance  of  invitations  made.^  Again 
in  1857  Governor  Grimes  tried  to  secure  him  for  a  series  of 
speeches.*  For  sundry  reasons  Mr.  Lincoln  was  unable  to 
comply  with  their  wishes.  But  if  any  fact  would  indicate 
that  before  the  celebrated  senatorial  contest  of  1858  Mr.  Lin- 
coln was  a  political  factor  of  interstate  fame  and  far  from  an 
"Unknown" — the  fact  that  Governor  Grimes,  the  last  man  in 
the  world  to  bother  with  nonentities,  an  inveterate  searcher 
after  accomplishment  and  efficiency,  should  thus  for  many 
years  seek  to  enlist  him  in  the  Republican  forces  in  Iowa  dem- 
onstrates the  extensive  and  solid  reputation  possessed  by  the 
Illinoian.  In  1858,  as  we  have  seen,  in  the  interval  between 
the  debate  with  Douglas  at  Galesburg  and  their  meeting  at 
Quincy,  Mr.  Lincoln  followed  Senator  Douglas  over  the  river 
to  "Burlington  and  on  the  evening  of  October  9th  spoke  in 
Grimes  Hall  on  the  chief  issues  in  the  pending  contest.'' 

In  1857  Mr.  Lincoln  came  in  contact  with  some  of  the  busi- 
ness projects  of  Iowa  that  gave  him  increased  interest  in  the 
State,  extending  his  relations  and  acquaintanceship  with  influ- 
ential factors  in  such  wise  as  to  prove  extremely  advantageous 

iJames  W.  Grimes  to  David  E.  Blair  reprinted  in  this  issue  of  The 
Annals. 

^Salter's  Grimes,  pp.  83-84. 

^Lincoln's  Works   (Miller  Ed.),  Vol.  9,  p.  19. 

•Salter's,  Grimes,  p.  95. 

^Thh  Annals  of  Iowa   (3d  Series)  Vol.  VIII,  pp.   453-455. 


90  IOWA  AND   ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

to  him  in  the  final  clinch  of  the  convention  at  Chicago.  The 
Chicago  and  Eock  Island  Railroad  Company  in  order  to  en- 
hance the  extensions  of  their  line  in  Iowa  spanned  the  Missis- 
sippi at  Rock  Island  and  Davenport.  The  construction  of  the 
company's  bridge  aroused  the  bitter  animosities  of  the  river- 
men,  partially  because  they  instinctively  opposed  the  advance- 
ment of  a  rival  mode  of  transportation  that  threatened  their 
supremacy,  and  partially  because  they  seriously  believed  that 
the  bridge  would  prove  an  obstruction  to  free  transit  on  the 
river.  Suspicious  accidents,  boats  striking  the  piers  and  the 
burning  of  the  bridge,  indicated  the  intensity  of  the  antagon- 
ism of  interests.  The  owners  of  one  damaged  vessel  brought 
suit  in  the  federal  court  presided  over  by  Judge  James  Love 
of  Keokuk,  who  decided  that  the  bridge  was  an  irremediable 
obstruction  to  navigation.  His  ruling  if  confirmed  was  fatal 
to  interstate  commerce  by  railways  where  navigable  rivers 
intervened.  The  matter  was  eventually  taken  up  and  tried 
in  the  Circuit  Court  at  Chicago,  Associate  Justice  John  Mc- 
Lean, of  the  Federal  Supreme  Court  presiding.  The  Rock 
Island  company  employed  Mr.  Lincoln  among  others.  He 
chiefly  examined  the  witnesses  and  made  the  main  argument 
to  the  court.    The  decision  was  in  favor  of  the  company.^ 

One  of  the  directors  of  the  Rock  Island  company  employing 
Mr.  Lincoln  in  the  Rock  Island  bridge  case  was  Mr.  Norman 
P.  Judd,  later  chairman  of  the  Republican  state  central  com- 
mittee of  Illinois  and  also  a  member  of  the  Republican  national 
committee— and  one  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  chief  field  workers  at 
the  Chicago  convention.  By  the  way  of  this  association  with 
Mr.  Judd.  Mr.  Lincoln  invested  in  lands  in  Iowa  in  and  about 
Council  Bluffs,  the  then  proposed  western  terminus  of  the 
Rock  Island,  or  the  Mississippi  and  Missouri  Railroad  as  it 
was  then  called,  Lincoln  buying  some  of  Judd's  holdings  in 
Council  Bluffs.  Sometime  previously  he  had  become  interested 
in  real  estate  in  Iowa  having  entered  his  Black  Hawk  War 

'Case  of  Hxtrd  et  al.  vs.  Railroad  Bridge  Co.  See  Hon.  Peter  A  Dey  of 
Iowa  City  to  Frederick  Trevor  Hill.     Century  Magazine,   V.   71,  p.   953. 


THE  REPUBLICAN  PRELIMINARIES  OF  1860  91 

land  warrant  in  Crawford  county/  Both  Mr.  Judd  and  Mr. 
Lincoln  employed  Mr.  (later  General)  Grenville  M.  Dodge  of 
Council  Bluffs  to  attend  to  their  interests  in  that  region.  Mr. 
Dodge  was  the  surveyor  of  the  line  of  the  Rock  Island's  exten- 
sion in  Iowa.  It  was  incident  to  his  business  relations  with 
Mr.  Judd  of  his  directory  board  that  he  later  took  an  active 
part  at  Chicago  in  furthering  the  nomination  of  Mr.  Lincoln 
by  the  national  Republican  convention.- 

In  the  spring  of  1859  Mr.  Lincoln  again  visited  Iowa — and 
under  circumstances  that  indicate  the  solid  character  of  Mr. 
Lincoln's  close  relations  with  powerful  industrial  interests 
that  are  always  potent  and  present  in  political  councils.  Some 
time  in  April,  probably  the  latter  part,  he  was  attending  court 
at  Galena.  He  appeared  in  some  cases  affecting  the  Illinois 
Central  Railroad  Company — a  corporation  that  had  employed 
him  almost  from  the  time  of  the  incorporation  of  the  company 
in  1849.^  He  had  won  an  important  case  for  the  company  and 
between  it  and  some  later  hearings  or  proceedings  he  made  a 
visit  to  Dubuque,  nearly  opposite  Galena,  stopping  for  a 
day  and  a  night  at  the  Julien  House,  a  well-known  hostelry 
of  that  city.  He  came  with  a  party  of  officials  of  the  Illinois 
Central  Company.  He  rode  in  a  private  car,  on  his  own  pass 
furnished  him  in  his  capacity  as  attorney  for  the  company. 
The  distinction  of  a  private  car  and  the  privilege  of  free  trans- 

^Two  of  the  three  Bounty  Land  Warrants  issued  to  Abraham  Lincoln 
for  military  service  in  the  Black  Hawk  War  were  filed  for  lands  in  Iowa. 

The  first  warrant  No.  52,076  for  forty  acres  (Act  of  1850)  issued  April 
16,  1852,  was  located  on  the  northwest  quarter  of  the  southwest  quarter 
of  section  20,  in  township  84  north  of  range  39.  The  entry  was  made  at 
Dubuque,  Iowa,  by  his  attorney,  John  P.  Davis,  July  21,  1854.  A  patent 
was  issued  June  1,   1855. 

The  second  No.  68,465,  for  120  acres  (Act  of  1855)  was  issued  April  22, 
1856,  and  was  located  on  the  east  half  of  the  northeast' quarter  and  the 
northwest  quarter  of  the  northeast  quarter  of  section  18  in  township  84, 
range.  3 9.  Mr.  Lincoln  himself  located  or  made  the  selection  at  Springfield, 
111.,   December  27,   1859.     The  patent  was   issued   September   10,   1860. 

The  foregoing  is  taken  from  a  letter  of  the  Commissioner  of  the  Land 
Office,  June  27,  1865,  quoted  by  Herndon  and  Weik  Abraham  Lincoln,  Vol. 
I,  p.  92.  Mr.  W.  H.  Terry,  Recorder  of  Crawford  county,  wherein  the 
entries  for  lands  described  should  be  made  of  record,  writes  that  only 
for  the  last  named  tract  was  a  patent  issued  to  Abraham  Lincoln  ;  more- 
over, the  number  of  the  land  warrant  was  68,645  according  to  his  record, 
and  not  68,465.  The  entry  for  the  first  mentioned  tract  was  made  by 
Milton  Santee,  June  19,  1858,  and  the  patent  issued  August  3,  1866,  on 
Warrant  No.  4672.  W.  H.  Terry  to  the  writer  (MSS.),  Sept.  16,  and 
Oct.   4,    1909. 

^General  Grenville  M.  Dodge  to  the  writer  (MSS.)  July  3,  1907,  and  Aug. 
13,   1908:   and  interview,   Nov.   17,   1908. 

^Ahraliam  Lincoln,  as  Attorney  for  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad  Com- 
pany. The  writer  is  in  debt  to  Mr.  J.  G.  Drennan,  of  Chicago,  attorney  for 
the  company,  for  a  copy  of  this  rare  Album. 


92  IOWA  AND   ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

portation  greatly  impressed  some  of  the  young  Republican 
leaders  of  Dubuque  (among  the  number  being  the  late  Senator 
Wm.  B.  Allison)  who  attended  at  the  Julien  House  to  observe 
the  notables. 

It  is  not  clear  Avhether  Mr.  Lincoln's  visit  to  Dubuque  was 
primarily  in  connection  with  the  official  party  of  the  railroad 
company,  then  greatly  interested  in  securing  control  of  a 
western  terminus  in  Dubuque  and  extensions  into  and  through 
Iowa,  or  whether  it  was  taken  on  his  own  initiative  on  account 
of  private  business  or  pleasure  and  happened  to  coincide  with 
the  official  party 's  visit.  The  visit  seems  not  to  have  attracted 
much  public  notice  at  the  time  although  a  number  of  lawyers 
of  Dubuque  called  to  pay  their  respects  to  Senator  Douglas' 
great  antagonist,  some  of  whom  long  afterwards  vividly  re- 
membered the  occasion.^  The  visit  in  and  of  itself  was  not 
of  particular  political  consequence.  The  circumstances  of  the 
visit,  however,  in  the  writer's  judgment,  bring  into  view 
a  fact  of  the  greatest  significance.  They  exhibit  the  close, 
not  to  sa3^,  intimate  relations  ]\Ir.  Lincoln  had  as  a  la-wj^er 
with  great  and  powerful  industrial  corporations:  factors  of 
the  greatest  potency  in  the  decisions  of  political  bodies.-  It 
was  this  relationship,  moreover,  that  in  some  part  caused  ]\Ir. 
Lincoln  to  make  another  visit  to  Iowa  and  another  speech  in 
the  State  in  1859. 


^Interview  of  Mr.  James  B.  Morrow  with  Senator  Wm.  B.  Allison,  dated 
at  Washington,  D.  C,  May  7,  1908:  see  The  Sioux  City  Journal,  May  10, 
1909:  and  George  Crane  to  the  writer  (MSS.),  July  31,  1909.  Mr.  Crane 
was  Mr.  Allison's  law  partner  at  the  time  and  attended  at  the  Julien  House 
with  his  professional  associates. 

^The  following  telegram  will  indicate  the  high  standing  of  Mr.  Lincoln 
with  the  managers  of  railroads  for  years  preceding  his  nomination  at 
Chicago : 

"Chicago,    Oct.    14.   1853. 
"To  Abraham  Lincoln, 
Springfield,  111. 

Can  you  come  here  immediately  and  act  as  arbitrator  in  the  crossing 
case  between  the  Illinois  Central  and  Northern  Indiana  R.  R.  Companies 
if  you  should  be  appointed?     Answer  and  say  yes  if  possible. 

(Signed)      J.  F.  Jot." 

The  Mr.  Joy  signing  the  telegram  was  the  organizer  of  the  C,  B  &  Q. 
R.  R.  and  a  director  of  the  Illinois  Central  at  the  time.  Cent.  Mag.,  Vol. 
71,  p.  950,  gives  telegram.  The  original  telegram  may  be  found  in  the 
Collection  of  General  Alfred  Orendorff  of  Springfield,  111. 


THE  REPUBLICAN  PRELIMINARIES  OF  1860  93 

Sometime  in  the  latter  part  of  July  or  in  the  forepart  of 
August  ]\Ir.  Lincoln  made  a  trip  to  Kansas — whether  exclu- 
sively on  business  or  not  is  not  clear.  On  his  return,  while 
stopping  at  St.  Joseph,  Missouri,  he  decided  to  make  a  visit 
to  Council  Bluffs  and  examine  his  land  holdings,  acquired 
from  Mr.  Judd,  with  a  view  doubtless  to  estimating  the  prob- 
able future  of  the  city's  commercial  development  and  the 
prospect  for  enhancing  land  values.  He  was  accompanied  by 
Mr.  0.  M.  Hatch,  Secretary  of  State  for  Illinois.  Their  boat 
arrived  at  Council  Bluffs  Friday  evening,  August  12th. 
Speech-making  seems  not  to  have  been  contemplated  by  Mr. 
Lincoln,  but  two  events  conspired  to  make  him  address  the 
citizens  on  political  matters. 

First,  the  leading  citizens  of  the  town  without  distinction  of 
party,  as  soon  as  they  knew  of  his  presence  besought  him  to 
make  a  speech.  Second,  the  boat  on  which  he  was  to  return 
met  with  an  accident  and  for  two  or  three  days  he  was  unable 
to  proceed.  Another  fact  was  influential.  The  Republicans 
of  Iowa  were  in  the  midst  of  a  strenuous  state  campaign  and 
were  making  more  than  usual  efforts  to  elect  their  candidates 
for  governor  and  lieutenant-governor,  ]\Iessrs.  Samuel  J.  Kirk- 
wood  and  Nicholas  J.  Rusch,  and  the  normal  political  com- 
plexion of  the  "Missouri  Slope."  as  that  region  was  called, 
was  Democratic.  Furthermore,  Council  Bluffs  was  the  home 
of  Mr.  Lysander  AY.  Babbitt,  the  Democratic  candidate  for 
lieutenant-governor.  The  fame  of  the  visitor  and  the  exi- 
gencies of  the  political  situation  no  doubt  made  the  local  po- 
litical leaders  more  than  ordinarily  urgent  in  pressing  the 
invitation  upon  Mr.  Lincoln ;  and  he  too  probably  was  not 
unmindful  of  the  contingent  advantages  that  might  ensue 
from  an  effective  speech  in  Iowa  at  such  a  point  under  such 
circumstances.  At  any  rate  The  Weekly  Nonpareil,  the  organ 
of  the  Republicans,  contained  the  following  announcement  in 
its  issue  Saturday  morning. 

HEAR  OLD  ABE. 

Hon.  Abe  Lincoln  and  the  secretary  of  state  for  Illinois,  Hon.  O. 
M.  Hatch,  arrived  in  our  city  last  eve,  and  are  stopping  at  the  Pacific 
House.    The  distinguished  "Sucker"  has  yielded  to  the  importunities 


94 


IOWA  AND   ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 


of  our  citizens  without  distinction  of  parties,  and  will  speak  on  the 
political  issues  of  the  day  at  Concert  Hall  this  evening.  The  celebrity 
of  the  speaker  will  most  certainly  insure  him  a  full  house.  Go  and 
hear  Old  Abe. 

As  was  the  case  when  Mr.  Lincoln  spoke  at  Burlington  in 
October  preceding,  neither  the  substance,  nor  the  main  points, 
nor  the  nature  of  the  speech  was  indicated  in  the  press  report 
and  comment  thereon :  simply  the  manner  and  effectiveness 
of  the  speaker  were  characterized.  The  evening  was  divided 
between  Mr.  Lincoln  and  a  Judge  Test,  one-time  secretary  of 
state  for  Indiana  and  then  a  recent  convert  from  the  Demo- 
cratic party.  The  latter  fact  apparently  was  not  known  for 
some  of  the  audience  seems  to  have  anticipated  something  in 
the  nature  of  a  joint  debate  between  the  two  speakers;  but 
both  expressed  similar  views. ^  The  next  week's  issue  of  The 
Nonpareil  contains  an  editorial  expression  of  about  a  quarter 
of  a  column  from  Mr.  W.  W.  Maynard  under  the  heading 
"Abe  Lincoln,"  one  of  its  paragraphs  being  devoted  to  the 
Illinoian  and  the  other  to  the  Indianian,  with  the  major 
emphasis  of  laudation  for  Mr.  Lincoln. 

This  distinguished  gentleman  addressed  a  very  large  audience  of 
ladies  and  gentlemen  at  Concert  Hall  in  this  city  Saturday  evening 
last.  In  the  brief  limits  of  a  newspaper  article  it  were  impossible 
even  though  we  wielded  the  trenchant  pen  of  a  Babbitt  (which  we 
do  not)  to  give  an  outline  of  his  masterly  and  unanswerable  speech 
— the  clear  and  lucid  manner  in  w^hich  he  set  forth  the  principles 
of  the  Republican  party — the  dexterity  with  which  he  applied  the 
political  scalpel  to  the  Democratic  carcass — beggars  all  description 
at  our  hands.  Suffice  it  that  the  speaker  fully  and  fairly  sustained 
the  great  reputation  he  acquired  in  the  memorable  Illinois  campaign 
as  a  man  of  great  intellectual  power — a  close  and  sound  reasoner. 

At  the  close  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  remarks  Judge  Test  of  Indiana  was 
called  to  the  stand.  The  Judge  spoke  for  near  half  an  hour  .... 
both  gentlemen  endeared  themselves  to  the  Republicans  by  their 
praiseworthy  efforts  on  this  occasion.^ 

The  foregoing  announcement  and  comments,  colored  as  they 
are  by  the  favorable  inclination  of  the  editor's  partisan  preju- 

'The  Sunday  Nonpareil  (semi-centennial  edition),  Sept.  2,  1906 — article 
"Visit  of  'Abe'  Lincoln  to  Council  Bluffs,"   p.   22. 

2Tfte  Weekly  Nonpareil,  Aug.  12,  1859.  The  writer  is  indebted  to  Mr. 
Henry  Peterson,  attorney  of  Council  Bluffs,  for  the  citations  from  The 
Nonpareil  of  1859.  He  unearthed  the  files,  when  all  information  as  to 
their  whereabouts  was  adverse. 


THE  REPUBLICAN  PRELIMINARIES  OF  1860  96 

dice  indicate  very  decidedly  the  keen  popular  interest  in  Mr. 
Lincoln  in  western  Iowa  and  his  celebrity  as  a  powerful 
speaker.  But  the  significance  of  the  visit,  aside  from  the 
speech  is  not  appreciated;  and  there  was  of  course  but  little 
suspicion  of  the  bearing  of  the  event  upon  the  visitor's  later 
career.  His  one  particular  object  seems  to  have  been  to  confer 
with  his  local  representative  about  land  values  and  their 
future  prospects.  The  person  who  thus  acted  for  him  with 
whom  he  chiefly  conferred,  subsequently  had  a  distinguished 
career  in  the  nation's  industrial,  military  and  political  affairs:, 
and  the  writer  has  been  fortunate  in  securing  his  recollections 
of  Mr.  Lincoln's  visit  and  speech.  The  following  extracts 
are  reproduced  from  notes  of  an  interview  with  General  Gren- 
ville  M.  Dodge. 

My  first  interest  in  Abraham  Lincoln  came  about  as  a  result  of 
business  interest.  I  had  had  business  relations  for  some  time  with 
N.  P.  Judd  of  Illinois  who  was  Mr.  Lincoln's  manager  in  the  cam- 
paign before  the  Chicago  convention.  I  looked  after  some  land 
interests  for  them  in  and  about  Council  Bluffs. 

I  first  met  Mr.  Lincoln  at  Council  Bluffs  in  August,  1859.  He 
had  come  up  there  by  way  of  St.  Joseph  and  the  Missouri  river  to 
look  after  an  interest  in  the  Riddle  tract  that  he  had  bought  from 
Mr.  Judd. 

I  had  just  returned  with  my  party  from  a  surveying  trip,  and  we 
camped  in  a  ravine  just  north  of  the  town,  and  had  come  down  to 
the  Pacific  House  to  get  a  square  meal. 

He  heard  of  the  arrival  of  the  engineering  party  and  sought  me 
out  at  the  hotel.  We  sat  down  on  the  porch  of  the  Pacific  House  and 
he  proceeded  to  find  out  all  about  the  country  we  had  been  through 
and  all  about  our  railroad  surveys,  the  character  of  the  country, 
particularly  its  adaptability  to  settlement,  its  topographical  features, 
in  fact,  he  extracted  from  me  the  information  I  had  gathered  from 
my  surveyors,  and  virtually  shelled  my  woods  most  thoroughly. 

When  Mr.  Lincoln  first  spoke  in  Council  Bluffs  in  August,  1859, 
I  was  interested  in  him  chiefly  because  he  had  been  Judd's  friend 
and  because  he  had  been  an  attorney  for  the  Rock  Island  road. 
Knowing  something  of  his  reputation  produced  by  the  debates  with 
Douglas  and  because  of  his  relations  with  Judd  and  the  Rock  Island 
I  went  over  to  the  Square  where  he  was  to  speak. 

There  are  no  accounts  of  the  speech  that  give  any  details  as  to 
what  he  said  except  perhaps  in  a  very  vague  way.  He  dwelt  largely 
upon  the  slavery  question— the  great  subject  in  which  we  folks  on 
the  "Missouri  Slope"  were  then,  as  was  the  whole  country,  much 


96 


IOWA  AND  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 


interested.  Mr.  Lincoln  set  forth  his  views  of  the  slavery  question 
in  connection  with  the  settlement  of  the  territory  just  across  the 
Missouri  river.  The  settlement  of  the  new  territory  interested  him 
very  much  and  its  commercial  development  was  much  in  his  mind. 
In  the  course  of  his  speech  he  took  occasion  to  commend  the  ad- 
vanced stand  taken  by  Kirkwood  in  his  campaign  for  governor.  I 
went  with  Kirkwood  to  some  of  the  towns  in  the  western  part  of  the 
State  in  which  he  spoke.  Kirkwood  was  regarded  by  a  good  many  as 
pretty  strong  on  the  slavery  question.  It  was  natural  that  Mr.  Lin- 
coln should  say  a  good  word  on  his  behalf. 

Before  the  speech  I  had  no  very  definite  ideas  about  Mr.  Lincoln: 
but  that  speech  settled  the  matter.  He  convinced  the  most  of  those 
who  heard  him  that  he  knew  what  he  was  talking  about  and 
that  he  knew  how  to  put  the  issues  so  as  to  bring  out  the  strong 
points  of  the  Republican  position.  He  made  many  strong  friends  in 
our  part  of  the  State  at  the  time. 

Mr.  Lincoln  stayed  with  Messrs.  Thomas  Officer  and  W.  H.  M. 
Pusey  while  in  town — they  had  formerly  lived  in  Springfield,  Illinois. 

Years  after  it  was  the  conversation  at  the  Pacific  House  that  led 
to  the  fixing  of  the  eastern  terminus  of  the  Union  Pacific  at  Council 
Bluffs.^ 

There  was  some  but  not  much  notice  of  the  visit  and  the 
speech  by  the  press  of  the  State.  At  Des  Moines  Mr.  Teesdale 
refers  to  the  presence  and  address  of  the  "distinguished" 
Illinoian  in  Council  Bluffs  and  he  asserts  that  the  Republicans 
were  "delighted  with  the  effort  and  do  not  wonder  at  the 
popularity  of  Old  Abe  at  home. ' '  He  concludes  by  declaring : 
"...  the  Republicans  of  Iowa  are  under  especial  obligations 
to  Mr.  L.  "^  The  editors  of  the  Democratic  paper  make  note 
of  the  event  in  contemptuous  terms :  ' '  Lincoln,  the  would-be 
Senator  from  Illinois  who  was  so  badly  beaten  on  the  stump 
and  at  the  polls  by  Douglas  was  in  Council  Bluffs  last  week 
and  made  a  speech."^ 

One  fact  is  made  evident  in  the  foregoing.  The  familiar 
terms  employed  by  Messrs.  Maynard  and  Teesdale  in  referring 
to  Mr.  Lincoln,  such  as,  '  *  Abe ' '  and  ' '  Old  Abe, ' '  indicate  that 
his  name  and  fame  were  common  household  stock;  the  editors' 
language  implied  no  derogation ;  rather  an  assumption  that  aU 

ilnterview  with  General  Grenville  M.  Dodge,  Des  Moines,  Nov.  17,  1908. 
^The  Iowa  Weekly  Citizen,  Aug.  24,  1859. 
^The  Campaign  Journal,  Aug.  18,  1859. 


THE  REPUBLICAN  PRELIMINARIES  OF  1860  {)7 

knew  him  or  about  him  and  held  him  in  the  esteem  of  familiar 
colloquial  acquaintance. 

Roundabout  or  following  the  visit  to  Council  Bluffs  a  report 
seems  to  have  become  current  in  Keokuk  that  Mr.  Lincoln 
would  attend  a  session  of  the  federal  court  in  that  city  in 
September.  Forthwith  Mr.  Hawkins  Taylor,  an  active  leader 
of  the  Republicans  in  the  Gate  City,  took  measures  to  secure 
a  speech  and  Avrote  him.  Mr.  Taylor  received  a  reply  under 
date  of  September  6th,  as  follows: 

There  is  some  mistake  about  my  expected  attendance  of  the 
United  States  court  in  your  city  on  the  third  Tuesday  of  this  month, 
I  have  no  thought  of  being  there.  It  is  bad  to  be  poor.  I  shall  go  to 
the  wall  for  bread  and  meat,  if  I  neglect  my  business  this  year  as 
well  as  last.  It  would  please  me  much  to  see  the  city  and  good 
people  of  Keokuck,  but  for  this  year  it  is  little  less  than  an  impos- 
sibility.' 

"I  am  constantly  receiving  invitations  which  I  am  compelled  to  de- 
cline. I  was  pressingly  virged  to  go  to  Minnesota  and  I  now  have  two 
invitations  to  go  to  Ohio.  These  last  are  prompted  by  Douglas  going 
there,  &  I  am  really  tempted  to  make  a  flying  trij)  to  Columbus  & 
Cincinnatti. 

"I  do  hope  yon  will  have  no  serion  trouble  in  Iowa.  What  thinks 
Grimes  al)out  it?  I  have  not  known  him  to 'be  mistaken  about  an 
election  in  Iowa.  Present  my  respects  to  Colonel  Curtis  &  other 
friends,  and  believe  me. 

Yours  truly. 

A.  LINCOLN. 

Notwithstanding  his  financial  straits,  the  pressure  of  the 
political  campaign  in  the  country  at  large  was  so  great  as  to 
induce  the  Avriter  of  that  letter  two  weeks  later  to  go  to  Ohio 
in  pursuit  of  his  old  antagonist,  Senator  Douglas,  "driving 
nails  in  his  track"  in  two  notable  speeches  at  Columbus  and 
Cincinnati. 

Following  ]\Ir.  Lincoln's  appearance  at  Council  Bluffs  and 
no  doubt  in  consequence  of  it  he  received  another  invitation 
to  speak  in  the  canvass  in  Iowa.  Mr.  John  A,  Kasson,  as 
chairman  of  the  Republican  state  central  committee,  was  in 
no  small  degree  charged  personally  with  the  practical  respon- 

1  Original  in  Aidrich  ('onf>rjtion«.  Historical  Department  of  Iowa. 
'The  reasons  for  the  worry  of  the  Republicans  in  the  canvass  of  1859  are 
set  forth   by   the   writer   in   The   Annals^   Vol.   Vllt,    206-217. 


98 


IOWA  AND  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 


sibility  for  the  successful  issue  of  the  state  campaign.  The 
Democrats  were  making  more  than  common  efforts  to  regain 
the  State,  having  in  General  A,  C.  Dodge  a  very  strong  can- 
didate for  governor.  Mr.  Kasson  had  substantial  reasons  for 
anxiety  as  to  the  outcome-  and  alertly  sought  effective  speakers. 
Under  date  of  September  13th  Mr,  Kasson  addressed  Mr. 
Lincoln,  a  brief  note  : 

Will  it  be  possible  for  you  to  visit  Oskaloosa  in  this  State,  at  the 
State  Fair,  say  the  28th,  Sept',  and  speak  there,  and  perhaps  at  one 
or  more  other  places. 

It  is  earnestly  desired  you  should  visit  the  State  if  possible.' 
The  invitation,  however,  was  unavailing,  for  the  reason 
probably  that  ]\Ir.  Lincoln  by  the  date  he  received  it  was 
busily  preparing  for  his  speeches  in  Ohio  or  was  already  on 
his  Avay  to  that  State.  At  least  there  seems  to  have  been  no 
favorable  response.- 

It  is  not  clear  Avhy  Mr.  Lincoln  should  have  been  indis- 
posed to  cross  the  river  and  make  some  speeches  at  various 
important  points  in  eastern  Iowa  in  the  campaign  of  1859. 
His  visit  to  Council  Bluffs  seems  to  have  been  accidental  or 
at  least  not  pre-arranged.  He  went  to  Kansas  both  before 
and  after  his  speech  at  Council  Bluffs:  and  he  went  to  Ohio 
and  to  AVisconsin  before  his  second  visit  to  Kansas.  The 
invasion  of  Ohio  by  his  old  antagonist  was  sufficient  induce- 
ment for  him  to  follow.  But  Wisconsin  was  as  certainly 
Republican  as  Iowa,  while  Iowa  was  a  State  with  eight  votes 
in  the  forthcoming  national  convention  and  Kansas  was  a 
territory  with  but  six  possible  votes.  The  tremendous  popu- 
lar furoi'e  over  "Bleeding  Kansas"  probably  explains  his 
sacrifices  of  time,  energy,  and  means  in  Kansas  and  his  com- 
parative indifference  to  appeals  from  lowa.^ 


'The  writer  is  indebted  to  the  courtesy  of  Hon.  Robert  T.  Lincoln' of 
Chicago  for  Mr.  Kasson's  note  given  above,  who  presented  him  with  the 
original,  together  with  its  envelope  on  which  is  an  autograph  notation  of 
President  Lincoln. 

=Hon.  Robert  T.  Lincoln  to  the  writer  Feb.  1,  1909,  and  Mr.  Clias. 
Kasson  Wead  for  Hon.   John  A.   Kasson,   Jan.   8,    1909. 

'Mr.  Lincoln  had  another  basis  of  interest  in  Iowa  and  lowans.  Messrs. 
Herndon  and  Lamon  both  declare  that  no  fact  had  a  more  profound 
influence  upon  his  character  and  career  than  his  love  for  Miss  Anne  Rut- 
ledge  of  New  Salem.     Her  untimely  death  in  1835,  it  is  asserted,  accounts 


THE  REPUBLICAN  PRELIMINARIES  OF  1860  i)«) 

There  are  few  signs  of  any  systematic  effort  to  secure  action 
that  would  promote  the  nomination  of  Mr.  Lincoln.  The  sug- 
gestion of  Mr.  Holmes  of  j\Iarion  already  noted,  might  have 
contemplated  some  action  by  the  special  state  convention  called 
for  January  18,  1860,  to  select  the  delegates  to  attend  the 
national  convention.  In  one  instance,  however,  instructions 
were  given.  The  Republicans  of  Newton  in  their  resolutions 
instructing  for  Salmon  P.  Chase  for  President  directed  their 
county  delegates  to  work  to  secure  the  nomination  of  Abraham 
Lincoln  for  Vice-President.^  One  thing  is  obvious.  The  name 
of  j\Ir.  Lincoln  received  as  much  consideration  in  Iowa  in  con- 
nection with  the  Presidency  in  1859  both  in  informal  discus- 
sion and  in  formal  party  action  as  that  of  his  chief  competitor 
at  the  national  convention. 


largely  for  the  clouds  of  melancholy  that  so  constantly  hovered  about 
him.  Even  after  his  election  to  the  Presidency  he  is  reported  to  have 
said  to  an  old  friend  from  whom  he  was  seeking  information  about  old 
acquaintances :  "I  have  loved  the  name  of  Rutledge  to  this  day.  I  have 
kept  my  mind  on  their  movements  ever  since,  .  .  ."  (Lamon,  Life, 
p.  169).  Some  members  of  the  Rutledge  family  moved  to  southern  Iowa 
during  the  fifties.  Robert  B.  Rutledge  was  one  of  the  pioneers  of  Van 
Buren  county  whose  name  appears  in  its  calendar  of  Notables  (.History 
of  Van  Buren  County,  p.  378).  He  was  elected  Sheriff  of  that  county  in 
1857  serving  from  1858  to  1862.  During  the  Civil  War  he  was  appointed 
Provost  Marshal  in  1863,  with  headquarters  at  Burlington,  serving  in 
the  latter  capacity  until  October  31,  1865.  {^Var  of  Rebellion — Records, 
Series  III,  Vol.  V,  906).  We  may  safely  surmise  that  the  appointment 
was  the  result  of  President  Lincoln's  personal  interest  in  him  and  his 
family.  After  the  war  Mrs.  James  Rutledge,  mother  of  the  brother  and 
sister  just  mentioned,  lived  for  a  time  at  Oskaloosa.  The  writer  is  in- 
debted to  Mr.  E.  R.  Harlan,  Curator  of  the  Historical  Department,  for 
the  foregoing  relative  to  Robert  Rutledge's  career  in  Iowa ;  and  to 
Mr.   Welker   Given   of   Des   Moines   for   the   last  fact   mentioned. 

'J7ie   Gate   City,  Jan.    11,    1860. 


REPUBLICAN  PRESIDENTIAL  PRELIMINARIES 
IN   IOWA— 1859-1860. 

1.     The  First  Party  Maneuvers  in  1859. 

Victory  in  political  contests,  as  in  military  operations,  de- 
pends no  less  upon  the  possession  of  strategic  points  and  the 
masterful  use  of  the  machinery  and  technique  of  procedure, 
than  upon  concourses  of  adherents.  Inferior  forces  directed 
by  masters  of  strategy  and  tactics  are  usually  successful  over 
preponderant  numbers  or  mere  masses  unorganized  or  illy 
controlled  and  directed.  Candidates  or  their  friends  and 
promoters  realize  these  facts.  They  begin  early  to  run  out 
their  lines,  set  their  stakes,  build  their  fences  and  hedge 
against  rushes  and  surprises,  to  use  the  jargon  of  politicians. 
The  leaders  in  charge  of  the  machinery  of  the  party  may  ally 
themselves  with  this  or  that  wing  or  faction,  or  further  the 
interests  of  a  particular  candidate ;  if  there  seems  to  be  a  fair 
prospect  of  success  they  then  strive  to  have  the  machinery 
operate  in  his  behalf.  Or,  they  may  perceive  that  the  party's 
choice  of  a  standard  bearer  is  not  a  matter  to  be  decided  solely 
upon  grounds  of  personal  affiliations,  or  factional  or  sectional 
interests  but,  if  victory  is  to  be  achieved,  such  choice  must  be 
determined  upon  considerations  insuring  the  maximum  effi- 
ciency of  the  party's  forces  in  the  aggregate.  Complete  align- 
ment, certainty  and  unity  of  purpose,  capacity  for  hearty  co- 
operation, prompt  co-ordination  and  concentration  whereby  a 
party's  strength  can  be  easily  directed  and  hurled  against  the 
weak  points  of  the  Opposition,  are  the  prerequisites  of  suc- 
cess. Premature  action,  however,  is  no  less  to  be  avoided  than 
dilatory  measures.  The  former  create  serious  reactions  inimi- 
cal to  candidates  because  the  majority  of  a  party  are  interested 
in  causes  rather  than  men,  and  hasty  action,  such  as  early 
rushes  to  capture   caucuses  or  conventions,   suggests  "snap 

(101) 


lOi  .  IOWA  AND   ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

judgments"  and  seems  to  imply  that  the  promoters  of  a  candi- 
date fear  adverse  results  from  full,  fair  and  open  discussion 
and  deliberate  decision. 

(a)   The  Selection  of  Delegates  Proposed. 

It  cannot  now  probably  be  definitely  stated  when  the  first 
maneuvers  were  instituted  for  securing  the  favor  of  Iowa's 
Republican  leaders  or  determining  the  attitude  of  the  party 
in  respect  of  the  presidential  succession  in  1860.  There  is 
some  evidence,  however,  that  both,  friends  and  promoters  of 
candidates  and  also  some  of  the  party  leaders  of  the  State  con- 
templated active  measures  early  in  1859,  with  a  view  to  con- 
trolling the  action  of  Iowa  at  the  national  convention.  • 

On  March  26th  an  official  call  for  a  Republican  state  con- 
vention to  meet  in  Des  IMoines,  June  22d,  was  issued  by  the 
state  central  committee.  The  call,  after  stating  the  immedi- 
ate specific  purpose  of  the  convention  to  be  the  nomination  of 
candidates  for  various  state  offices  to  be  elected  at  the  ensuing 
election,  included  the  further  announcement  that — "The  con- 
vention will  take  such  other  action  as  may,  in  its  opinion,  con- 
tribute to  the  success  of  the  principles  and  organization  of  the 
Republican  party  of  this  State  and  of  the  Union."  Of  the 
seven  members  of  the  committee  signing  the  call,  five  were 
afterwards  selected  (or  as  alternates  or  proxies,  acted)  as  dnle- 
gates  of  the  party  at  the  Chicago  convention.  They  were  INIr. 
John  A.  Kasson,  chairman,  and  Mr.  H.  M.  Hoxie.  both  of  Des 
Moines,  Mr.  N.  J.  Rusch  of  Davenport,  Mr.  R.  L.  B.  Clarke  of 
Mount  Pleasant  and  Mr.  Thomas  Seeley  of  Guthrie  Center. 

Following  within  a  week  or  so,  word  was  apparently  given 
out  that  it  would  be  advisable  for  the  approaching  convention 
to  select  the  delegates  to  the  next  national  convention,  for 
Mr.  Palmer  of  the  Dubuque  Tim  es  observed :  ' '  The  question 
has  arisen  among  some  of  the  leading  Republicans  whether  the 
state  convention  .  .  ..  should  not  choose  delegates  to  the 
next  Republican  national  convention.  If  there  is  any  pur- 
pose or  any  necessity  of  making  the  choice  at  that  time,  the 
party  throughout  the  State  should  know  it,  that  they  may  be 
represented  accordingly."^     The  reception  accorded  the  sug- 

'Quoted    in    The   Muscatine   Daily  Journal,   April    26.    1S59. 


THE  REPUBLICAN  PRELIMINARIES  OF  1860  103 

gestion  was  somewhat  various.  Mr.  Mahin  looked  upon  it  with 
approval.  "We  think,"  he  declares,  "it  would  be  a  fit  time 
to  choose  such  delegates.  The  call,  as  published,  confers  the 
power  on  the  convention,  and  as  another  state  convention  will 
not,  in  all  probability,  be  held  before  the  national  convention, 
the  opportunity  ought  to  be  improved  for  the  appointment  of 
delegates.  Let  us  have  a  general  expression  from  the  Repub- 
lican press  on  this  subject,  and  let  it  be  understood  that  dele- 
gates are  to  be  appointed."^  The  proposition  was  given  more  or 
less  approval,  Tlie  Cedar  Valley  Times  concurring  with  The 
Journal;  but  for  the  major  part  it  encountered  sharp  dis- 
approval. 

Mr.  Howell  repelled  the  suggestion  instantly.  "The  idea 
of  electing  delegates  to  the  national  convention,"  he  de- 
clared, "ought  not  to  be  entertained  for  a  moment.  There  is 
no  propriety  in  doing  so,  nor  is  there  the  slightest  necessity  for 
such  haste.  It  is  highly  probable  that  the  national  conven- 
tion will  meet  at  Wheeling  on  the  ITtli  of  June,  1860,  and  our 
state  convention  next  year  can  very  properly  come  off 
about  the  first  of  June,  at  which  time  candidates  for  state 
offices  and  delegates  to  the  national  convention,  duly  imbued 
with  the  sentiments  and  fully  instructed  as  to  the  preferences 
of  the  Republicans  of  Iowa,  can  be  selected."^  The  Iowa  City 
Repiihlican  was  likewise  adverse.  Mr.  Jerome,  the  editor, 
pointed  out  that  "the  wish  of  the  party  [relative  to  the  candi- 
date] is  now  unknown.  Twelve  months  hence  it  will  find 
unanimous  expression.  The  man  will  come  with  the  hour. 
Let  us  wait  for  both."^  Mr.  Drummond  reprinted  the  Re- 
puhlican's  views  as  expressing  his  own.^  Mr.  Teesdale,  while 
opposing  the  selection  of  delegates  at  the  forthcoming  Conven- 
tion, put  out  the  equivocal  suggestion  that  it  would  be  well  "to 
give  expression  to  the  sentiment  of  the  State  at  the  time  the 
delegates  were  selected."  One  is  not  certain  whether  a  pre- 
liminary expression  by  the  state  convention  in  June  was  sug- 
gested or  resolutions  of  instruction  at  the  time  the  delegates 
were  later  selected  was  contemplated.'^ 

^The  Muscatine  Daily  Journal,  April  26,  1859. 
^The  Gate  Citv.  April   28,   1859. 
^The  Vinton  Eagle  cites  May   10,   1859.     *Ibid. 
^The  Weeklu  Citizen,  May  11,   1859. 


104  IOWA  AND   ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

Opinion  adverse  to  either  selection  of  delegates  or  to  an 
expression  of  the  party's  preference  in  the  matter  of  a  candi- 
date was  evidently  pronounced,  for  no  affirmative  action  was 
attempted  on  the  floor  of  the  convention  hall  at  Iowa  City, 
June  22d.  Nevertheless  we  may  suspect  serious  designs.  The 
language  of  the  call  already  quoted,  clearly  had  some  definite 
proceedings  in  view.  About  the  same  time  a  similar  sugges- 
tion was  being  acted  upon  with  vigor  in  Oregon.  The  Repub- 
licans of  that  territory  in  their  convention,  April  21,  1859, 
instructed  their  delegates,  selected  at  the  time  for  the  na- 
tional convention  "to  use  their  influence  to  secure  the  nomi- 
nation of  IT(m.  W.  H.  Seward  of  New  York,  as  candidate  for 
President ;  but  in  case  they  cannot  secure  his  nomination,  then 
further  proceedings  are  left  to  their  discretion."^  Whether 
the  action  contemplated  by  the  movers  in  Iowa  was  designed 
to  enure  to  the  benefit  of  Bates  or  Seward  or  Cameron  we  per- 
haps cannot  determine.  Nevertheless  the  friends  and  pro- 
moters of  those  candidates  were  already  instituting  measures 
to  secure  the  favor  and  active  aid  of  party  leaders  in  various 
sections  of  the  country.  Taking  the  personnel  of  the  state 
central  committee  as  a  basis  for  judgment  Ave  may  surmise 
that  the  design  of  the  movement  was  favorable  to  the  candi- 
dacy of  Mr.  Bates.  Mr.  Jerome,  one  of  the  signers,  as  we  have 
seen,  was  opposed  to  action.  Mr.  Clarke,  an  ardent  anti- 
slavery  advocate,  almost,  if  not  an  out-and-out  abolitionist, 
was  one  of  the  staunch  Seward  men  at  Chicago  the  following 
year.  Messrs.  Kasson,  Hoxie  and  Seeley  were  probably  favor- 
able to  iMr.  Bates,  rather  than  Mr.  Seward;  and  Mr.  Rusch 
because  of  his  relations  with  ]\Ir.  Kasson  would  doubtless  have 
concurred  with  the  colleagues  just  named ;  at  least  ]\Iessrs.  Kas- 
son and  Hoxie  gave  their  votes  to  Mr.  Bates  on  the  first  ballot 
at  Chicago. 


^The  Oregon  Statesman,  April  26,  1859.  The  writer  is  indebted  to 
Mr.  George  H.  Himes,  Assistant  Secretary  and  Curator  of  the  Oregon  His- 
torical Society  of  Portland,  for  the  citation  above  respecting  the  action 
of   the   Republicans   of   Oregon    in    1859. 

In  view  of  the  instructions  given  the  Oregon  delegates,  it  is  interest- 
ing that  on  the  first  and  second  ballots  in  the  Convention,  Oregon's 
five  votes  were  cast  for  Bates,  and  on  the  third,  four  went  to  Lincoln 
and  one  to  Seward.  See  N.  Y.  Herald,  May  13,  1860;  or  N.  Y.  Tribune 
(s.  w.),   May   22,    1860. 


THE  REPUBLICAN  PRELIJVUNARIES  OF  1860  luo 

(b)  The  Choice  of  the  Convention  City  and  Its  Significance. 

^Meanwhile  another  maneuver  was  in  progress  that  was  not 
without  influence  in  determining  the  joarty's  choice  at  Chi- 
cago. For  some  time  public  spirited  citizens  in  the  larger 
cities  of  the  west  had  been  looking  with  designing  eyes  upon 
the  members  of  the  Republican  national  committee  and  mak- 
ing plans  to  secure  its  decision  to  hold  the  next  national  con- 
vention in  their  respective  cities.  The  national  Democratic 
convention  in  1856  was  held  at  Cincinnati ;  and  citizens  of 
Wheeling.  Indianapolis,  Chicago  and  St.  Louis  entertained 
lusty  hopes  of  securing  the  Republican  convention  in  1860. 
From  Mr.  Howell's  assertion  previously  quoted,  it  seems  that 
WTieeling  was  generally  accorded  the  presumption  of  the  se- 
lection, but,  as  the  event  proved,  without  warrant.  For  the 
most  part,  of  course,  the  motives  animating  those  seeking  the 
committee's  favorable  action  were  the  issue  of  ordinary  com- 
munal desires  to  enhance  local  fame  and  enjoy  the  eclat  of 
such  national  gatherings.  But  other  motives  in  other  minds 
were  probably  the  decisive  factors  in  determining  the  selec- 
tion of  the  convention  city. 

Environment  is  a  condition,  if  not  a  determinant,  of 
achievement  in  politics.  Local  influences  may  play  a  conspicu- 
ous and  on  occasion  a  vital  part  in  the  decisions  of  conven- 
tions. The  location  of  the  city  wherein  they  are  held,  if  remote 
from  centers  of  population  or  difficult  of  access,  may  prevent 
many  influential  leaders  and  important  elements  participating 
in  their  deliberations,  and  thus  seriously  affect  decisions. 
IMoreover,  the  influences  of  a  community,  always  numerous, 
omnipresent  and  vocal,  sometimes  subtle  and  subterranean, 
under  the  direction  of  alert,  aggressive  and  intelligent  leaders 
are  often  most  potent  in  making  things  come  to  pass.  They 
are  not  always  decisive — are  seldom  the  chief  factors — unless 
other  forces  and  considerations  are  evenly  balanced;  then 
local  influences  Avhen  concentrated  and  co-ordinated  may  force 
the  tilt  of  the  beam  and  decide  the  result. 

Anj^  one  familiar  Avith  the  ways  of  practical  politicians  to- 
day need  not  be  told  how  carefullj'  such  matters  are  attended 
to  bj'  party  leaders  in  closely  contested  political  battles.    We 


lOti  IOWA  AND   ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

may  fairly  presume  that  politicians  fifty  years  ago  were  no 
less  alert  to  such  considerations.  The  friends  and  promoters 
of  Chase,  INIcLean  and  Wade,  of  Bates  and  Lincoln  would  nat- 
urally prefer  to  have  the  convention  held  west  of  the  Alle- 
ghenies  at  or  nearest  the  seat  of  their  local  fame  and  influ- 
ence. If  we  could  obtain  access  to  their  correspondence,  or 
that  of  their  managers  or  of  the  party  chiefs  in  Iowa,  we 
should  doubtless  find  that  the  political  elfect  of  the  locus  of 
the  convention  was  seriously  canvassed.  One  of  President 
Lincoln's  most  distinguished  biographers  tells  us  that  the 
selection  of  the  convention  city  was  not'  made  until  February, 
1860,  and  that  the  maneuver  effecting  the  decision  in  favor  of 
Chicago  was  the  work  of  Norman  P.  Judd,  member  of  the 
national  committee  from  Illinois;  and  further,  that  the  im- 
portance of  the  maneuver  was  realized  by  "no  one  except  the 
Illinois  politicians."^  There  are  grounds  for  doubting  the 
correctness  of  these  assertions. 

In  the  latter  part  of  August,  1859,  Senator  James  Harlan, 
then  at  his  home  in  jNIount  Pleasant,  Iowa,  received  a  letter 
from  ^Ir.  John  D.  DeFrees  of  Indianapolis,  Indiana.  His 
correspondent  was  a  man  of  considerable  influence  among  the 
"Hoosiers."  For  many  years  he  had  been  one  of  the  leading 
editors  of  that  state.  At  the  time  he  was  chairman  of  the 
Republican  state  central  committee  and  was  on  the  eve  of 
starting  a  new  Republican  paper  {The  Daily  Atlas)  ; — a  man, 

'Miss    Ida    M.    Tarbell,    Life   of    Abraham    Lincoln,   Vol.    I,    p.    339. 

The  passage  in  which  the  assertion  Is  made  Is  the  following: — 
"February  16,  1860,  'The  Tribune'  came  out  editorially  for  Lincoln, 
and  Medill  followed  a  few  days  later  with  a  ringing  letter  from  Wash- 
ington, naming  Lincoln  as  a  candidate  on  whom  both  conservative  and 
radical   sentiment  could  unite.  ...      About    the    time    when    Medill 

was  writing  thus,  Norman  P.  Judd,  as  member  of  the  Republican 
National  Committee,  was  executing  a  maneuver  the  importance  of  which 
no  one  realized  but  the  Illinois  politicians.  This  was  securing  the  con- 
vention   for    Chicago." 

One  of  Mr.  Lincoln's  confreres,  and  later  one  of  his  biographers,  Mr. 
W.  C.  Whitney,  also  gives  the  entire  credit  for  securing  the  convention  at 
Chicago  to  Mr.  Judd.  With  some  error  he  declares  tliat  all  conventions 
had  theretofore  been  held  in  the  east  and  that  Mr.  Judd  made  the  "novel 
proposition  in  tlie  committee  that  the  convention  should  be  held  at  Chicago. 
He  argued  that  the  Democrats  had  departed  from  the  ancient  custom  of 
meeting  at  Baltimore,  and  were  to  meet  at  Charleston  ;  now,  argued  he, 
let  us  follow  their  example  and  meet  in  a  region  where  we  can  make 
proselytes  by  tlie  respect  we  pay  to  that  region.  He  carefully  kept  "Old 
.Vbe"  out  of  sight,  and  the  delegates  failed  to  see  any  personal  bearing  the 
place  of  meetmg  was  to  have  on  the  nomination.  Judd  carried  his  point. 
He  was  a  railway  lawyer  and  he  approached  the  various  railway  com- 
panies whose  lines  were  in  Illinois,  and  persuaded  them  to  make  very 
cheap  rates  of  fare  to  Chicago  during  the  convention  week."  Lincoln  The 
Citizen,  pp.   284-5:  Works  of  Abraham -Lincoln,   Vol.  I    (edited  by  Miller). 


THE  REPUBLICAN  PRELIMINARIES  OF  1860  107 

we  are  told,  who  was  regarded  by  Clay  and  Crittenden,  Web- 
ster and  Corwin  as  a  very  "adroit  politician-"^  After  refer- 
ring to  his  new  editorial  duties  and  his  purpose  to  advocate  and 
pursue  a  moderate  or  "conservative"  policy  relative  to  na- 
tional politics  he  says: 

While  I  shall  not  war  publicly  on  the  extreme  ground  occupied 
by  some  of  our  friends,  I  know  that  Indiana  cannot  be  carried  on 
these  grounds  and  hence  the  conservative  spirit  of  my  paper.  I 
have  been  battling  Democracy  in  all  its  infernal  phases,  for  more 
than  thirty  years  and  I  want  to  see  it  crushed  out  before  I  die.  It 
can  not  be  done  (in  my  opinion)  if  ultra  men  are  permitted  to 
dictate  our  policy,  and  name  our  candidate. 

As  I  suggested  to  you  when  we  rode  on  the  cars  together,  it  would 
be  a  good  move  to  get  the  national  convention  held  out  West 
somewhere  (Indianapolis  if  you  please)  so  as  to  be  out  of  the  out- 
side influence  always  created  anywhere  in  the  neighborhood  of 
New  York — Gov.  Lowe  of  your  State,  is  one  of  the  committee  to  fix 
time  and   place.     Please  talk  with  him   on   this  subject.'' 


2 


Mr.  DeFrees'  letter  reflects  a  concern  lest  radicalism  should 
seize  the  rank  and  file  and  force  the  nomination  of  an  extrem- 
ist for  President  who  would  work  the  party's  defeat  in  the 
doubtful  states — a  concern  that  one  discovers  to  be  pronounced 
among  all  the  old  party  wheelhorses  in  those  states.  This 
dread  manifested  itself  in  1859  and  1860  in  earnest  pleas  and 
in  i)lans  for  an  "Anti-Seward"  program  rather  than  in) 
direct,  insistent,  systematic  efforts  to  push  the  nomination  of 
a  "favorite  son"  or  the  favorite  of  a  faction  or  of  a  section. 
Indiana  had  no  candidate,  but  her  population  was  for  the  most 
part  composed  of  people  of  southern  antecedents,  affiliations 
and  sympathies  (Mr.  DeFrees  was  himself  a  Tennesseean)  and 
the  ultra  notions  of  the  anti-slavery  propagandists  were  re- 
ceived by  them  with  but  little  favor.  Idealistic  sentiment, 
that  prompts  a  party  to  plunge  ahead  of  the  traditions  and 
common  sense  of  the  people,  or  to  run  counter  to  popular 
prejudices,  is  a  rock  of  offense  and  not  a  force  making  for 
success.  It  is  clear  from  Mr.  DeFrees'  letter  that  the  oppo- 
nents of  Governor  Seward  must  have  been  canvassing  the  ad- 


'Appleton'.s  Cyclopedia  of  American  Biography,  Vol.  II,  p.  124. 

^Jamc's  Harlan,  Autobiographical  Manuscript,  p.  3043.  For  permis- 
sion to  cite  and  use  the  letter  above  the  writer  is  indebted  to  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Robert  T.  Lincoln  of  Chicago,  and  to  Dr.  B.  F.  Shambaugh  of 
the  State  Historical  Society  of  Iowa,  and  Mr.  Johnson  Brigham,  State 
Librarian,    the   latter   having   the   manuscript    in    their   custody. 


1^  IOWA  AND  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

visability  of  securing  the  convention  in  a  western  city  some 
time  prior  to  the  date  of  his  letter.  The  significance  of  his 
attitude  and  the  importance  of  the  maneuver  in  contempla- 
tion, are  effectively  stated  by  Senator  Harlan  himself,  who,  on 
rereading  it  some  thirty-five  years  later,  made  the  following 
comment :  " .  .  .  He,  as  he  says,  was  an  Old  School  "Whig 
prior  to  the  organizatioii  of  the  Republican  party,  and  as 
sternly  opposed  to  eveiy  thing  bordering  on  'abolitionism' 
as  the  slave-holding  element  of  the  Southern  States.  So  were 
nearly  all  of  the  leaders  of  the  Republican  party  in  Indiana. 
And  he  and  they  had  already  commenced  to  put  up  fortifica- 
tions against  the  possible  nomination  of  AYm.  H.  Seward,  as 
the  Republican  candidate  for  President  in  1860.  And  Mr. 
Seward  was  probably  defeated  by  this  influence  in  the  na- 
tional convention;  supplemented,  of  course,  by  sympathizers 
from  other  western  States."^ 

The  national  committee  had  the  matter  of  the  selection  of 
the  convention  city  under  advisement  for  a  considerable  time. 
In  April  the  citizens  of  A\lieeling  presented  a  memorial  to  the 
committee  seeking  a  decision  favorable  to  that  city.-  On  May 
25th,  the  committee  met  at  Albany,  New  York,  and  although 
some  twenty  members  were  present,  no  decision  as  to  time  and 
place  could  be  reached.  The  report  made  via  the  dispatches 
read — "The  proceedings  are  strictly  private  but  it  is  thought 
the  decision  will  be  in  favor  of  holding  the  convention  at  St. 
Louis,  jMo.,  or  some  other  place  in  Virginia."^  Evidently  at 
that  time,  either  representatives  of  the  west  or  anti-Seward 
members  outnumbered  the  Seward  members  of  the  committee. 
The  matter  hung  fire  for  some  time.  In  the  latter  part  of  the 
j'ear  the  subject  was  "agitated  in  different,  localities,"  St. 
Louis,  Chicago  and  Indianapolis  being  "the  most  prominent 
places  named.  "^  The  press  in  Iowa  does  not  appear  to  have 
paid  much  attention  to  the  question.  One  editor,  however, 
expressed  a  decided  preference.  Mr.  Jerome  declared  in  favor 
of  Chicago  as  his  first  choice,  of  St.  Louis  as  his  second  and  of 

^Ib.    p.    3049.      For   the   prominent   part    played   by   Mr.    DeFrees   at    the 
Chicago  Convention  see  McClure's  Our  Presidents,  etc.,  pp.  155-156. 
*The    Express    and    Herald    (Dubuque),    April    19,    1859. 
»The    Daily   Hawk-Eye,   May    26,    1859. 
*St.   Charles  Intelligencer,   Dec.    15,    1859. 


THE  REPUBLICAN  PRELIMINARIES  OF  1860  109 

Indianapolis  as  his  third  choice.^  The  decision  was  not  made 
until  December  22d  following.  The  committee  met  in  New 
York  City.  The  part  taken  by  Iowa  in  the  meeting  is  not 
certain.  Governor  Lowe  had  ceased  to  be  a  member.  His 
place  had  been  filled  by  Mr.  Andrew  J.  Stevens,  a  banker 
and  broker  of  Des  IMoines,  who  was  then  or  later,  an  advocate 
of  Governor  Seward's  nomination.  At  the  time  of  the  meet- 
ing of  the  committee  he  could  not  attend,  his  proxy  and  vote 
being  held  and  exercised  by  Senator  J.  R.  Doolittle  of  Wiscon- 
sin.^ Mr.  Judd  of  Illinois  concurred  naturally  in  the  action 
of  the  committee  and  he  was  no  doubt  one  of  the  effective  pro- 
moters of  the  movement  making  for  the  decision,  but  it  would 
appear  that  he  was  only  one  of  many  conspiring  to  secure  the 
benefit  of  local  environment  adverse  to  the  candidacy  of  the 
Senator  from  New  York. 

The  contrariety  of  minds  relative  to  the  significance  of  the 
action  of  the  committee  is  illustrated  in  an  interesting  and  sig- 
nificant fashion  in  the  editorial  comments  of  two  editors  of 
opposite  political  faith.  !Mr.  Jerome  of  Iowa  City  expressed 
himself  as  follows :  " .  .  .  we  think  it  eminently  fit  that  a 
city  which  has  maintained  her  republicanism  amidst  such 
opposition,  'bearding  the  Douglas  in  his  den,'  richly  deserves 
this  flattering  testimonial.  Chicago  herself  is  a  true  type  and 
representative  of  the  already  great  and  growing  Republican 
party  .  .  .  She  is  emphatically  a  free  city.  Her  mer- 
chants are  not  satellites  and  flunkeys — they  do  not,  as  Phil- 
adelphia and  some  other  cities  have  done,  propose  to  sell  their 
principles  Avith  their  goods.  Political  auctions  have  not,  and 
we  trust  never  will,  come  into  vogue  with  her  people."^  The 
work  of  Douglas'  opponent  evidently  was  the  matter  in  mind. 
Mr.  F.  M.  Zieback  of  Sioux  City  observed:  "The  selection 
of  this  hotbed  of  abolitionism  as  the  place  for  holding  their 
convention  will  not  do  much  towards  enhancing  the  prospect 
of  Republicanism  among  the  more  conservative  portion  of  the 
party.  It  is  a  stroke  of  policy,  however,  on  the  part  of  the 
friends  of  Lincoln  which  will  doubtless  place  him  upon  the 

^lowa  City  Weekly  Republican,  Dec.   7,  1859. 

-iV.  y.  Tribune  (s.  w),  Dec.  23,  1859. 

Howu  Weekly  Republican,  December  2  8,   1859. 


ItO  IOWA  AND  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

ticket  for  Vice-President."^  Clearly  up  in  the  farthermost 
corner  of  the  State,  Abraham  Lincoln  was  not  "an  Unknown," 
nor  was  he  regarded  as  a  negligible  quantity  in  the  political 
contest  then  approaching  its  crisis.  The  significance  of  Mr. 
Zieback's  comment  is  not  lessened  by  the  fact  that  he  was  a 
Democrat. 

(c)  Call  for  the  Special  State  Convention. 

jNIeantime,  about  two  weeks  preceding  the  determination 
of  the  date  and  place  for  holding  the  national  Republican 
convention  a  call  was  issued  December  5,  by  the  state  central 
committee,  for  a  special  Republican  state  convention  to  be 
held  in  Des  Moines,  January  18,  1860,  to  choose  delegates  to 
the  national  convention.  The  matter  was  under  consideration 
during  November,  Mr.  Hildreth,  a  member  of  the  committee, 
tells  us.-  Mr.  John  A.  Kasson  who,  as  chairman,  signed  the 
call,  says  therein  that  it  was  issued  in  "accordance  with  the 
general  expression  of  public  sentiment."  The  justification 
for  the  assembly  so  many  months  before  the  national  con- 
vention was  put  upon  two  grounds.  First  the  national  con- 
vention ' '  would  be  held  at  a  much  earlier  date  than  is  usually 
appointed  for  calling  a  state  convention  for  the  nomination 
of  state  officers,"  and  second,  it  was  "most  convenient  to 
procure  a  general  representation  of  counties  during  the  ses- 
sion of  the  legislature. '  '^ 

As  the  Republicans  of  nearly  all  of  the  northern  or  free 
states  did  not  call  their  state  conventions  until  the  next  year 
was  well  advanced  toward  the  date  set  for  the  national  con- 
vention, one  cannot  repress  some  curiosity  respecting  the  real 
reasons  for  not  thus  waiting  in  this  instance.  The  postpone- 
ment for  tAvo  months  Atould  still  have  enabled  members  of  the 
state  legislature  to  serve  as  delegates  from  their  respective 
counties.  There  is  more  than  the  shadow  of  a  reason  for 
thinking  that  another  consideration  besides  the  selection  of 
delegates  to  the  Chicago  convention  might  have  been  in  the 
minds  of  some  of  the  members  of  the  state  central  committee 


''The  Register,  Dec.  31,   1859. 

-St.  Charlefi  Intelligencer,  Nov.   24,  1859. 

3/b.,  Dec.  22,  1859. 


THE  REPUBLICAN  PRELIMINARIES  OF  1860  m 

when  they  concurred  in  calling  the  special  coiivention  for 
January  18th. 

The  term  of  Iowa's  senior  Senator,  James  Harlan,  was 
about  expiring.  His  successor  was  to  be  chosen  by  the  legis- 
lature which  was  to  convene  in  Des  Moines,  January  9. 
Senator  Harlan  desired  re-election  and  his  renomination  by 
his  party  was  generally  assumed  and  conceded.  Nevertheless, 
there  were  sundry,  and  not  a  few  either,  who  did  not  favor  his 
re-election  enthusiastically.  Some,  perhaps,  because  of  per- 
sonal reasons,  such  as  discontent  with  his  course  at  Washing- 
ton:  some  because  of  his  "locality" — his  home  Mt.  Pleasant 
was  a  short  distance  from  Burlington,  the  home  of  his  col- 
league, James  W.  Grimes:  some  because  they  were  not  unAvil- 
ling  to  succeed  him  if  chance  might  offer.  Senator  Harlan's 
friends  in  various  parts  of  the  State  detected  signs  of  at- 
tempts at  the  furtherance  of  the  senatorial  ambition  of  some 
of  the  party  leaders  and  in  some  anxiety  warned  him  of  the 
fact.^  In  the  middle  of  December  political  circles  Avere 
stirred  by  an  editorial  in  The  Nonpareil  of  Council  Bluffs  in 
which  ]\Ir.  j\Iaynard  plumply  protested  against  the  assump- 
tion that  Mr.  Harlan  had  any  claim  to  be  his  own  successor 
that  the  party  or  the  people  were  in  honor  bound  to  recognize ; 
rather,  the  members  of  the  general  assembly  should  canvass 
men  regardless  of  particular  services  or  sacrifices  and  select 
the  best  man.  Mr.  Dunham  of  The  Daily  Hawk-Eye  endorsed 
the  sentiments  with  considerable  emphasis.^ 

If  there  was  any  design  adverse  to  Senator  Harlan's  re- 
election to  the  national  Senate  in  the  date  fixed  for  the  state 
convention  it  was  conceived  in  the  hope  that  the  concur- 
rence of  the  convention  with  the  opening  of  the  general 
assembly  might  produce  a  situation  favorable  to  serious  dis- 
turbances in  the  alignment  of  the  Senator's  forces.  The  selec- 
tion of  the  speaker  of  the  lower  house  engenders  frequently 
intense  feeling  among  the  rival  aspirants.  The  assignment  of 
members  to  committees  in  the  respective  houses  and  the  ap- 
pointment of  the- various  clerks  and  state  officers  by  the  legis- 
lative caacus,  often  produces  furious  animosities  and  the  acids 

^Autobiographical   MSS. 

"The  Daily  Hawk-Eye,  Dec.  26,  1859. 


11-2  IOWA  AND   ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

of  disappointed  hopes  may  cause  all  sorts  of  reactionary 
movements  whereby  enemies  and  rivals  may  secure  benefits. 
If  such  hopes  were  indulged  the  desire  of  many  to  attend  the 
national  convention  at  Chicago  as  delegates  would  increase 
the  trading  stock  of  those  who  sought  thus  to  manipulate  the 
situation.  Whatever  the  design  might  have  been  it  was  futile, 
for  Senator  Harlan  was  re-elected  without  dissent  from  his 
own  party  workers. 

The  call  for  the  convention  elicited  but  a  few  comments 
or  suggestions.  Indeed  one  is  likely  to  suffer  from  surprise 
at  the  general  indifference  and  non-attention  to  the  work 
it  was  designed  to  accomplish.  Sundry  facts  may  explain  the 
popular  inattention.  Congress  met  for  the  most  momentous 
session  in  its  history.  The  President's  message  contained  ref- 
erences and  recommendations  that  were  as  firebrands  thrown 
into  a  tinder  box.  The  deadlock  over  the  election  of  the 
Speaker,  the  hubbub  created  by  congressional  endorsement  of 
Helper's  Impending  Crisis,  and  the  denunciation  and  recrim- 
ination resulting  from  the  attack  on  Harper's  Ferry — all 
these  matters  and  others  absorbed  public  attention  to  the 
exclusion  of  most  local  matters.  There  were,  however,  a  few 
expressions  worth  noting,  for  they  illustrate  again  with  force 
and  point  the  general  attitude  urged  by  prudent  party  lead- 
er's, as  the  appropriate  course  for  the  party  to  pursue  in 
selecting  its  representatives,  and  their  proper  procedure  in 
selecting  the  party's  standard  bearer  for  the  campaign  to 
ensue. 

Mr.  Teesdale  briefly  commends  the  date  fixed  for  the  con- 
vention for  the  reason  assigned  in  the  call  and  emphasizes 
the  urgent  need  for  a  large  representation  from  all  counties 
so  that  the  "true  sentiment  of  the  State"  may  be  faithfully 
reflected  by  the  men  selected  to  go  to  Chicago.  He  asserts 
that  "nothing  but  the  wildest  imprudence  and  folly  on  the 
part  of  the  Republican  national  convention,  can  prevent  the 
election  of  a  Republican  President  and  Vice-President  in 
1860.  In  order  to  insure  wise  action  in  the  national  body, 
the  action  of  the  state  body  must  be  judicious  and  wise;  the^ 
success  of  the  cause  being  the  paramount  consideration."^ 

^The  Iowa  Weckhj  Citizen,  Dec.  14,  1S39. 


I 


THE  REPUBLICAN  PRELIMINARIES  OF  1S60  113 

From  one  newspaper  not  heretofore  cited  came  an  editorial 
worth}'  particular  attention  for  its  significance  and  sugges- 
tions. Among  the  accessions  to  the  ranks  of  the  Republican 
party  in  the  campaign  of  1859  was  Mr.  Henry  P.  Scholte  of 
Pella,  the  city  founded  in  1846  under  his  guidance  by  a  body 
of  Dutch  Pilgrims,  emigrants  from  Holland  because  of  relig- 
ious persecution.  Although  not  always  dominant  in  its  com- 
munal life  he  was  imtil  his  death  unquestionably  its  most 
influential  citizen.  On  coming  to  this  country  his  antagonism 
to  strong  central  government  caused  him  to  affiliate  with  the 
Democratic  party.  Its  attitude  toward  foreigners  further  en- 
couraged him.  On  the  subject  of  Slavery  he  was  a  stout 
opponent  of  the  system,  but  followed  Henry  Clay  in  main- 
taining the  rights  of  owners  of  slaves  against  the  attacks  of 
abolitionists.^  The  repeal  of  the  Missouri  Compromise  and 
the  Kansas-Nebraska  bill  distressed  him  greatly  but  he  did 
not  join  the  Republicans  in  1856  because  of  the  "impression 
that  Know-Nothingism  and  Abolitionism  were  the  predom- 
inant consideration  in  its  coimcils."-  The  scandal  in  con- 
nection with  the  Lecompton  constitution  in  Kansas  was  too 
much  for  him  and  he  joined  the  Republicans  in  the  spring  or 
early  summer  of  1859.  His  change  of  party  faith  made  a 
considerable  disturbance  because  of  his  great  influence  in 
Pella  where  he  had  long  guided  the  majority  in  political  dis- 
cussion by  means  of  The  Pella  Gazette,  which  he  both  pub- 
lished and  edited.^  On  reading  the  call  for  the  special  conven- 
tion he  expressed  himself  in  the  following  editorial  entitled 
"Presidential  Candidates" : 

Several  states  will  present  candidates  for  President  and  Vice- 
President  at  the  next  national  Republican  convention.  We  have  no 
doubt  but  the  Republicans  of  Iowa  will  heartily  sustain  the  nominees 
cf  that  convention.  Iowa  will  send  her  delegates,  but  has  not,  at 
present,  to  propose  one  of  her  sons  as  a  candidate.  We  think  it, 
therefore,  not  expedient  for  Republican  papers  in  Iowa  to  propose, 

^American  Slavery  in  reference  to  the  Present  Agitation  in  the  United 
States  lii/  an  Adopted  Citizen.  This  rare  and  interesting  book  consists  of 
editorials  on  tlie  subject  written  by  Mr.  Scliolte  for  The  Pella  Gazette  be- 
tween June  7,  1855,  and  Novemlser  S,  1856.  The  writer  is  under  obligation.^! 
to  Hon.  Henry  L.  Bousquet,  Clerk  of  the  Supreme  Court,  and  Mr.  H^nry 
Scholte  of  Pella  for  the  privilege  of  examining  both  the  book  and  the  files 
of  The  Oazette. 

-The  Pella  (lazette,  August  10,  1S59. 

s/6.,  Dec.   14.    lSo9. 


k 


114  IOWA  AND   ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

at  present,  any  name  as  their  particular  choice,  hut  at  least  wait  till 
we  have  had  our  state  convention  to  elect  delegates  to  the  national 
convention.  Should  our  state  convention  deem  it  proper  and  neces- 
sary to  instruct  their  delegates  to  go  for  any  one  of  the  main  candi- 
dates then  there  will  be  some  propriety  in  the  Republican  papers 
advocating  the  claims  of  such  candidates.  But,  if  on  the  contrary, 
our  state  convention  deems  it  proper  not  to  give  such  instructions 
but  give  to  the  delegates  pov.er  to  cast  their  vote  in  the  national 
convention  for  such  candidates  as  they  shall  there  discover  to  be 
the  strongest  men,  we  think  it  best  then  for  the  Republican  papers 
in  Iowa  to  await  the  national  convention,  and  when  the  nomination 
is  there  perfected  to  hoist  the  names  of  those  candidates  at  the  head 
of  their  column  and  then  work  faithfully  and  earnestly  till  we  have 
gained  the  victory  next  November.  We  consider  such  a  course  best 
for  the  Republican  party  and  for  the  candidates  nominated  at  the 
optional  convention. 

Here  again  we  have  prudence  urging  cautious  and  con- 
servative conduct.  Politics  is  an  eminently  practical  matter. 
Success  depends  no  less  upon  rapid  adjustments  to  conditions 
than  upon  the  possession  of  forces  and  supporters :  and  con-' 
ditions  are  usually  confused  and  confusing,  shifting  with 
kaleidoscopic  facility  and  profusion.  The  editorial  has  added 
interest  from  the  fact  that  the  convention  soon  to  convene  at 
Des  Moines  selected  Mr.  Scholte  as  one  of  the  party's  dele- 
gates at  large  to  the  national  convention ;  and  his  course  ful- 
filled his  own  advice. 

This  narrative  of  developments  in  1859  may  fittingh'  close 
with  an  excerpt  from  one  of  Iowa's  great  party  leaders  to 
another  party  chieftain  then  about  to  enter  upon  a  distin- 
guished career  in  our  State  and  national  history — both  men 
masters  of  the  tactics  and  strategy  of  politics.  The  letter 
was  written  to  Governor-elect  Kirkwood  by  Senator  James 
AY.  Grimes,  and  was  dated  at  Washington,  D.  C,  December 
26.  1859.  It  aptly  and  adequately  reflects  and  summarizes 
the  attitude  of  the  party  leaders  and  of  the  rank  and  file 
of  the  Republican  party  in  Iowa  towards  the  nomination  of 
their  candidate  for  President. 

De^b  Kikkwood: 

The  State  Convention  soon  assembles  to  appoint  delegates  to 
the  Chicago  convention.     Do  not  let  the  delegates  be  instructed  and 


THE  REPUBLICAN  PRELIMINARIES  OF  1860  115 

send  men  who  are  not  mere  traders  in  politics.  You  ought  to  be 
one  of  the  delegates  and  I  hope  you  will  see  to  it  that  you  are  ap- 
pointed. I  would  select  a  goodly  number  to  cast  the  vote  of  Iowa. 
If  you  appoint  electors  I  would  suggest  Samuel  Miller  of  Keokuk 
and  Wilson  of  Fairfield.  They  are  both  efficient  canvassers  and 
would  help  our  congressional  and  state  candidates  a  good  deal.  We 
must  have  a  thorough  canvass  of  the  State  next  year  and  bring  our 
majority  up  to  six  or  eight  thousand.  Have  good  men  appointed 
delegates  and  have  them  divided  fairly  between  old  Whigs  and  old 
Democrats,  and  entirely  uncommitted  to  any  man  or  men,  who  will 
try  to  nominate  for  the  good  of  the  party  and  not  for  the  benefit 
of  themselves.  Yours, 

James  W.  Grimes.^ 

The  Samuel  ]\Iiller  referred  to  was  Samuel  F.  Miller  after- 
wards appointed  by  President  Lincoln  Associate  Justice  of 
the  United  States  Supreme  Court.  The  "Wilson  of  Fairjfield" 
was  James  F.  Wilson,  then  rapidly  rising  in  state  fame  in  the 
state  legislature,  who  as  one  of  Iowa's  delegates  at  the  Chi- 
cago convention,  worked  from  first  to  last  for  the  nomination 
of  Abraham  Lincoln  for  President  and  afterwards  had  a  dis- 
tinguished career  in  both  houses  of  Congress. 


^Correspondence    of    Gov.    Savi'l  J.    Kirkwood   in    Aldrich    Collection,    in 
Historical  Department  of  Iowa  at  Des  Moines. 

Those  familiar  with  the  history  of  Iowa  and  of  Congress  will  appre- 
ciate the  warrant  for  Senator  Grimes'  assertion  tliat  Mr.  Jas.  F.  Wilson 
was  an  "efiicient"  canvasser ;  but  few  will  realize  its  fitness  in  the  case 
of  Mr.  Samuel  F.  Miller.  All  chroniclers  refer  to  his  reputation  as  a 
cogent  and  powerful  pleader  at  the  bar  of  his  county  and  of  the  Supreme 
Court  of  Iowa ;  but  no  one  refers,  so  far  as  the  writer  knows,  to  his 
strength  in  the  popular  forum.  Inquiry  of  General  John  W.  Noble  of 
St.  Louis,  who  practiced  in  the  same  courts  with  Mr.  Miller  from  1855  to 
1862  elicited  the  information  that  in  public  debate  "he  was  superbly  ag- 
gressive both  in  argument  and  in  gesture  and  voice  ;  and  he  flinched  not  at 
any  conclusion  to  which  his  premises  logically  lead  him."  In  the  cam- 
paign of  1860  he  threw  himself  with  "that  energy  and  intellectual  force 
of  which  he  possessed  so  much,  and  he  was  as  daring  a  leader  in  debate 
as  he  would  have  been  in  a  cavalry  charge.  .  .  ."  General  Noble  then 
relates  Mr.  Miller's  discussion  with  Judge  J.  M.  Love  at  Keokuk  of  the 
issues  of  that  campaign  and  the  fears  of  Disunion  in  case  Mr.  Lincoln 
was  elected  and  the  dramatic  and  thrilling  rejoinder  of  Mr.  Miller,  par- 
ticularly when,  with  intense  feeling,  he  said,  "Sir,  if  these  principles 
when  duly  adopted  by  the  people  of  the  United  States,  because  distaste- 
I  ful  to  a  minority,  whether  North  or  South,  may  lead  to  conflict  of  arms, 
;  I,  for  one,  will  abide  the  issue.  I,  for  one,  would  rather  see,  if  see  I 
must,  bayonets  crossed  over  the  ballot  box,  than  not  to  have  the  ballot's 
decree  carried  into  effect,  even  by  the  whole  force  of  my  country's 
power."  The  effect  was  "electric."  Letter  of  General  John  W.  Noble  to 
the    writer,    St.   Louis,    Mo.,   February   17,    1910. 


116  IOWA  AND  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

2.     The  First  Party  Decision  in  1860. 

When  lowans  began  their  reckonings  in  January,  1860,  the 
surface  of  the  waters  exhibited  but  few  signs  of  strenuous 
activity  in  state  or  national  politics.  There  was  no  up- 
roar, and  no  general  fuss,  as  the  forces  and  factors  contend- 
ing for  poAver  and  places  were  not  concentrating  sufdciently 
so  that  partisan  passions  and  factional  prejudices  upheaved 
in  foam  and  fury;  but  here  and  there  commotion  was  con- 
siderable, for  the  currents  Avere  running  with  vigor.  We  must 
appreciate  somewhat  the  nature,  velocity  and  momentum  of 
the  major  currents  in  order  to  realize  the  conditions  under 
which  the  Republicans  of  Iowa  made  their  first  substantial 
decision  in  determining  their  attitude  towards  party  prin- 
ciples, procedure  and  candidates  in  the  presidential  contest 
of  1860. 

(a)      Contrary  Considerations  Affecting  Party  Interests. 

The  Legislature  of  Iowa  was  due  to  assemble  at  Des  Moines 
in  regular  session,  January  9th,  and  all  classes  contemplated 
its  sessions  with  miscellaneous  hopes  and  feare — all  parties 
conceded  that  it  would  be  one  of  the  "most  important  ses- 
sions ever  held  in  this  state.  "^  The  Republicans  had  com- 
plete possession  of  all  the  offices  of  the  State,  executive,  judi- 
cial and  legislative.  Their  leaders  represented  the  State  in 
both  houses  of  Congress.  They  held  their  supremacy  by  a 
narrow  margin,  however,  the  campaign  of  1859  taxing  their 
strength  to  the  uttermost.  The  problems  and  perplexities  of 
the  party  leaders  when  the  chiefs  began  to  ingather  at  the 
state  capital  for  the  inauguration  of  Governor-elect  Samuel 
J.  Kirkwood,  were  numerous  and  pressing. 

The  friends  and  guardians  of  the  "Maine"  law,  prohibiting 
the  sale  of  intoxicating  beverages,  were  greatly  incensed  at 
the  progressive  imbecility  in  its  administration,  due  to  the 
insertion  of  "wine  and  beer"  clauses  and  the  elastic  inter- 
pretations of  "mechanical,  medicinal  and  sacramental"  pur- 
poses in  the  law's  exemptions.  They  insisted  upon  drastic 
strengthening,  while  the  enemies  of  the  law — the   Germans 

^The   Dubuque  Herald,   .Tanuarv  4.    1880. 


THE  REPUBLICAN  PRELIMINARIES  OF  1860  117 

preeminently — belligerently  demanded  radical  relief  from  its 
irksome  provisions.  The  foreign  born  in  the  State — and  here 
again  the  Germans  chiefly — were  uneasy  and  exhibited  a  belli- 
cose temperament.  Both  the  outgoing  Governor  in  his  mes- 
sage and  the  incoming  Governor  in  his  inaugural  address 
urged  the  passage  of  a  "Registry  Law"  which  all  knew  would 
mainly  and  immediately  affect  aliens  adversely,  and  they, 
mindful  of  the  "Two  Year  Amendment"  in  Massachussetts 
in  1859,  were  very  suspicious  and  insistent  upon  marked  con- 
sideration. The  situation  was  more  forcefully  than  politely 
described  in  the  reported  remark  of  a  Republican  editor,  who 
said :  "  To  get  an  office  at  the  hands  of  the  Legislature,  a  man 
must  be  born  again — born  in  Germany  by  G ! '  '^ 

But  for  the  most  part,  anxieties  and  ambitions  anent  finance 
and  commerce  animated  the  public  mind.  Industry  after 
much  blood-letting,  was  recovering  with  painful  slowness  from 
the  severe  depression  following  in  the  wake  of  the  panic  of 
1857,'  the  worst  effects  of  which  were  not  felt  in  Iowa  until 
1859.^  Resulting  in  considerable  measure  therefrom,  the  fi- 
nances of  the  State  were  in  a  bad  way.  Public  accounts  in 
city,  county  and  state  administrations  were  generally  in  sorry 
confusion  and  charges  of  malversation  and  misappropriation 
were  common.  The  school  funds  of  the  State  were  particularly 
thus  affected — interest  thereon  to  the  amount  of  $120,000 — 
an  enormous  amount  at  that  time — being  in  default  at  the 
time  Governor  Lowe  sent  in  his  message  to  the  Legislature, 
January  10th.  The  State,  county  and  city  treasuries  were 
all  seriously  embarrassed  by  deficits  due  to  delinquent  taxes 
and  local  discussion  was  highly  charged  with  the  bitter  ani- 
mosities issuing  from  "tax  sales"  and  resulting  ouster  of 
delinquents.  But  banks  and  railroads  engaged  the  major  in- 
terests of  the  public. 

From  1838  to  1858,  Iowa  had  virtually  denied  herself  banks 
of  note  issue.  The  inconvenience  and  distress  resulting  secured 
a  constitutional  amendment  in  1857  that  permitted  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  State  Bank  of  Iowa  in  1858.    Its  organization, 


^Daily  Iowa  State  Jonrnal,  January   16,    1S60. 

^Gov.    R.    P.    Lowe,    Message  to   Senate   and   House    of   Representatives, 
January  10,  1860. 


118  IOWA  AND   ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

or  rather  the  organization  of  its  branches,  progressed  amidst 
some  misadventure  that  was  greatly  magnified  by  reason  of 
the  general  industrial  depression.  Just  when  business  was 
getting  righted,  commercial  confidence,  particularly  in  eastern 
central  Iowa,  suffered  a.  violent  shock  on  December  16,  1859, 
from  the  failure  of  a  prominent  banking  house  of  Davenport. 
That  institution  was  the  chief  sponsor  of  the  notes  of  a 
notorious  "wild  cat"  bank  located  at  Florence,  Nebraska — one 
of  the  members  of  the  firm  being  a  director  of  the  branch  of  the 
State  Bank  at  Davenport.^  Then,  as  now,  private  bankers  were 
alert  and  aggressive  in  furthering  their  interests  and  their 
secret  caucuses  aroused  popular  prejudices.-  Cries  of  "mon- 
opoly" and  broad  hints  of  fell  designs  among  the  money 
changers  and  "note  shavers"  were  common,  and  these  gained 
much  credence  among  the  discontented  when  Governor  Lowe 
in  his  message,  declared  his  hostility  to  "Free  Banks,"  and 
recommended  that  the  notes  of  the  State  Bank  be  made  legal 
tender  for  taxes  and  its  branches  fiscal  agents  of  the  State  and 
counties. 

Railroads,  however,  comprised  the  greatest  complex  of  in- 
terests that  induced  the  public  to  concentrate  its  attention 
upon  the  Legislature  in  January,  1860.  Then  as  now,  these 
powerful  agencies  stirred  the  animosities  and  ambitions  of 
politicians  and  public  alike,  for  their  promoters  had  to  appeal 
to  and  utilize  the  law  and  ordinance  making  and  taxing  bodies 
of  the  State.  In  previous  years  railroad  projects  had  been 
promoted  with  feverish  and  reckless  haste.  Counties  and 
cities  had  run  riot  in  authorizing  bond  issues  and  tax  levies 
for  railroads.  Charges  of  corrupt  practices  in  connection 
therewith  were  not  infrequent.  In  1856  extensive  land  grants 
had  been  given  four  companies  to  expedite  the  completion  of 
projected  lines.  They  failed  to  fulfill  their  promises.  Popu- 
lar expectations  were  sadly  disappointed  and  public  discus- 
sion was  rife  with  demands  for  the  annulment  of  the  con- 
tracts and  the  cancellation  of  the  grants.  The  dissatisfaction 
became  so  resentful  that  repudiation,  or  attempts  thereat, 
became  common  and  innumerable  lawsuits  were  instituted  to 


^Davenport    Gazette,   cited   in   The   Gate  City,  December   23,    1859. 
-The  Duhitque  Herald,  January   11,    1860. 


THE  REPUBLICAN  PRELIMINARIES  OF  1860  119 

enforce  or  to  enjoin  the  issue  of  bonds  or  the  spreading  and 
collection  of  tax  levies  in  aid  of  railroads.  In  December,  1859, 
the  Supreme  Court  of  Iowa  declared  invalid  a  bond  issue 
of  Scott  county  wherein  Davenport  is  situate.^  Nevertheless, 
many  communities  ardently  sought  railroad  connections  and 
strove"  to  secure  the  forfeited  grants  of  the  defaulting  com- 
panies, and  the  holders  of  their  stocks  and  bonds  naturally 
desired  to  realize  something  from  their  holdings.  All  parties 
— protesting  taxpayers  and  railroad  builders — looked  to  the 
General  Assembly  for  relief.-  Eumors  were  soon  afloat  that 
railroad  promoters  expected  to  "send  down  to  Des  ]Moines 
this  winter  a  strong  'lobby'  of  hired  'constitutional  lawj^ers' 
for  the  purpose  of  operating  upon  the  Legislature.^  Mr.  J. 
B.  Grinnell,  himself  an  ardent  promoter  of  railroad  enterprises 
in  those  days,  wrote  the  St.  Louis  Eepuhlican,  a  week  or  so 
before  the  General  Assembly  met  that ' '  the  State  Aid  question 
promises  to  arise  in  Iowa  at  the  meeting  of  the  Legislature," 
an  assertion  that  aroused  adverse  suspicion  and  inquiries, 
' '  Who  are  the  managers  ?    "Whose  plan  is  to  be  followed  ? '  '^ 

With  local  conditions  thus  exceedingly  difficult  for  political 
leaders  either  to  control  easily  or  to  deal  with  safely,  the 
atmosphere  was  made  electric  by  sundry  matters  of  national 
moment  that  then  crowded  to  the  fore.  Iowa  and  lowans  were 
more  closely  connected  with  John  Brown's  raid  into  Virginia 
and  his  attack  on  Harper's  Ferry  than  either  law  or  ethics 
justified.  The  villages  of  Tabor  and  Springdale  had  been 
rendezvous  for  his  band  prior  to  the  foray.     At  least  three 

^stokes   V.    County   of   Scott,   10    la.    Sup.    Ct.    Reports,    166. 

^The  intense  feelings  and  subterranean  currents  are  suggested  in  a 
series  of  resolutions  adopted  at  Nevada,  in  Story  county,  at  a  Mass 
Convention  of  the  citizens  of  that  county,  January  7th,  in  which  the 
failure  of  the  Iowa  Central  Air  Line  to  complete  its  contract  is  denounced, 
the  ability  and  intentions  of  the  Dubuque,  Marion  and  Western  R.  R. 
Co.  are  denied,  and  the  Cedar  Rapids  and  Missouri  R.  R.  Co.  is  com- 
mended to  the  Legislature  and  the  transfer  thereto  of  the  land  grants 
asked.  The  latter  road  enjoyed  their  confidence  "backed,  as  it  is,  by  two 
powerful  railroad  organizations,  and  composed  of  our  own  citizens,  in 
connection  with  eastern  capitalists,  who  have  already  built,  without  any 
aid  from  the  government,  the  longest  line  of  railroad  in  the  State."  The 
convention  bv  the  same  resolutions  "instructed"  their  Senator  and  Rep- 
resentative in  the  Legislature  "to  use  all  honorable  means  to  secure"  the 
desired  transfer  of  the  land  grant  in  question.  (.Daily  Iowa  State  Journal, 
January   14,    1S60.) 

Wubuquc  Herald,  November  20,    1859. 

*The  Daihj  Iowa  State  Journal,  January  9,  1860.  Mr.  Grinnell  was  a 
Director  of  the  Chicago  and  Rock  Island  Railroad  (or  the  old  M.  &  M. 
R.  R..  more  probablv)  prior  to  1860;  at  least  the  position  he  tells  us,  was 
tendered  him  by  Mr."  Henry  Farnam,  then  President  of  the  Company. — Men 
and  Events  of  Forty  Years,  298. 


120  IOWA  AND   ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

lowans,  Jeremiah  Anderson,  Brown's  "faithful  henchman,"* 
and  the  brothers,  Barclay  and  Edwin  Coppoc,  took  part  in 
the  raid.  Soon  after  BroAvn's  capture  the  dispatches  an- 
nounced that  among  Brown 's  papers  were  found  letters  of  two 
prominent  Republican  leaders  of  Iowa,  namely  Mr,  "VVm.  Penn 
Clarke  of  Iowa  City,  and  ]\Ir.  Josiah  B.  Grinnell  of  Grinnell, 
the  former  then  the  reporter  for  the  Supreme  Court  and  the 
latter  a  state  Senator;  and  suspicious  partisans  of  the  "Ad- 
ministration" charged  that  the  correspondence  was  incrimi- 
nating.^  On  December  16,  1859,  the  "Select  Committee"  of 
the  Senate  of  which  Senator  John  M.  Mason  of  Virginia  was 
chairman  and  Jefferson  Davis  of  Mississippi  was  a  potent 
member,  began  its  inquiry  into  the  "invasion;"  and  on  Janu- 
ary 5,  1860,  its  hearings  began  at  Washington  and  some  of 
loAva's  citizens  expected  summons  to  appear  at  the  inquisition 
to  tell  what  they  knew  of  the  "aid  and  comfort"  given  the 
conspirators  at  Tabor,  Des  Moines,  Grinnell,  Iowa  City, 
Springdale  and  Davenport.^  Coincident  with  the  latter  pro- 
ceedings Governor  John  Letcher  of  Virginia  issued  (Jan.  10) 
a  requisition  on  the  Chief  Executive  of  Iowa  for  the  apprehen- 
sion of  Barclay  Coppoc,  a  fugitive  from  justice  in  Virginia, 
the  misjoinder  of  which  two  weeks  later  produced  one  of  the 
dramatic  episodes  of  those  stirring  days — explosions  in  the 
Legislature  and  a  ringing  message  in  rejoinder  from  Governor 
Kirkwood. 

Into  this  highly  charged  atmosphere  came  Governor  Kirk- 
wood's  inaugural  address,  delivered  (Jan.  11)  in  person  to 
the  General  Assembly.  Three-fifths  of  his  discourse  was  de- 
voted to  national  issues — John  Brown  and  Harper's  Ferry, 
Slavery  and  Colonization.  Brown's  course  the  new  chief 
magistrate  of  Iowa  condemned  "unqualifiedly,"  not  only  as 
"unlawful"  but  wrong  and  reprehensible  and  destructive  of 
law  and  order.    Nevertheless  he  at  the  same  time  roundly  de- 

'Frank    B.    Sanborn,    Recollections    of   Seventy;   Years,   I,    163. 

''The  Dubuque  Herald,  November  8,  1859 — Correspondence  from  Bur- 
linston,  Iowa.     See  also  Grinnell  Ih.,  p.   218. 

'^Report  of  The  Select  Committee  of  the  Senate  Appointed  to  Inquire  into 
the  Late  Tnva.<^ion  and  Seizure  of  the  Public  Property  at  Harper's  Ferry, 
etc.,   pp.   27,   28. 

Mr.  J.  B.  Grinnell  attended  on  summons  at  "^''ashinston  but  was  not 
called  before  the  Committee  to  testify.  See  his  Men  and  Events  of  Forty 
Years,   pp.    218,    219. 


THE  REPUBLICAN  PRELIMINARIES  OF  1860  121 

nounced  Presidents  Pierce  and  Buchanan,  charging  that  they 
by  tortuous  courses  ' '  sowed  the  wind ' '  in  Nebraska  and  Kan- 
sas, and  the  South  was  reaping  the  whirlwind  in  Virginia; 
on  their  shoulders  Kirkwood  laid  the  sole  responsibility  for 
Brown's  "unlawful  invasion"  of  the  Old  Dominion.  As  with 
the  lightning's  flash — the  inaugural  was  followed  by  tremen- 
dous thimder  and  reverberation.  The  Democrats  returned 
with  furious  denunciation  of  its  sentiments.  Mr.  J.  B.  Dorr, 
their  most  influential  editor  pronounced  its  doctrines  "in- 
famous."^ The  Democrats  of  the  lower  house  of  the  legis- 
lature filed  a  solemn  formal  protest  against  its  deliverance  and 
against  its  publication  and  distribution  at  public  expense, 
declaring  its  statements  mere  dicta  and  grossly  inappropriate 
as  well  as  unwarranted,  palliating  lawlessness  that  directly 
assailed  the  integrity  of  the  national  union.-  It  was  the  vio- 
lence of  feeling  thus  created  that  later  produced  the  disturb- 
ances anent  Kirkwood 's  refusal  to  honor  Governor  Letcher's 
requisition  for  Barclay  Coppoc  just  mentioned. 

Amidst  such  a  complex  of  counter  currents  the  Legislature 
convened :  and  delegates  to  the  special  Republican  state  con- 
vention began  to  assemble  in  Des  ]\Ioines. 

Foremost  in  the  minds  of  party  leaders  and  workers  was 
the  fact  that  a  Senator  of  the  United  States  had  to  be  elected, 
the  term  of  Senator  James  Harlan  then  nearing  completion. 
This  contingency,  as  all  familiar  with  state  politics  know, 
is  the  alpha  and  omega  of  the  personal  political  ambitions 


^The  Dubuque  Herald,  January   15.   1860. 

=See  Journal  of  House  of  Representatives  (8th  G.  A.)  for  dates  men- 
tioned for   the   Address  and   the   Protest. 

Governor  Kirkwood's  denunciation  of  Brown's  conduct  as  hostile  to 
good  government  had  been  antedated  by  another  prominent  lowan  on 
the  floor  of  the  House  of  Representatives  at  W^ashington.  Col.  Sam'l  R. 
Curtis  of  Keokuk,  represented  the  First  Congressional  District,  comprising 
then  the  south  half  of  Iowa.  Repelling  a  bold  innuendo  that  the  Repub- 
licans were  urging  a  candidate  for  Si^eaker  who  endorsed  murder.  Colonel 
Curtis  on  December  24.  1859,  pronounced  Brown's  invasion  of  Virginia  at 
Harper's  Ferry  "an  outrage."  (Cong.  Globe.  36  Cong.  1st  Ses..  Vol.  1-241.) 
Later,  January  4,  1S60,  in  the  course  of  a  colloquy  with  Reagan  of  Texas, 
Cobb  of  Alabama,  and  Craig  of  .Missouri.  Colonel  Curtis  declared  Brown's 
previous  robbery  of  the  nine  slaves  from  Missouri  and  spiriting  them 
through  Iowa  "a  more  flagrant  violation  of  law,  and  more  important  in  its 
character  and  results  than  the  foray  which  he  made  into  Virginia."  (/6., 
pp.    331-2.) 


122  IOWA  AND   ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

and  finesse  in  American  commonwealths.  Then  as  now  "King 
Caucus"  ruled  supreme.  On  Saturday,  Sunday  and  Monday 
the  lobbies  of  the  hotels  of  Des  Moines  swarmed  wdth  political 
leaders  and  their  henchmen,  with  legislators  and  candidates 
for  offices,  both  great  and  small,  -with  their  friends  and  aids 
in  attendance — all  in  a  tremendous  buzz.^  Monday  night  (Jan. 
9)  party  caucuses  selected  the  clerks,  doorkeepers,  firemen, 
pages  and  postmaster  for  the  Senate  and  the  lower  House. 
The  ardent  desires  of  the  innumerable  candidates  for  these 
petty  offices  were  potentially  dangerous  forces  when  disap- 
pointed by  the  decisions  of  the  caucus;  for  these  aspirants 
possess  power  in  the  provinces  and  may  influence  greatlj^  their 
senators  and  representatives  in  determining  their  course  in 
matters  of  greater  moment.  In  the  election  of  the  Speaker  of 
the  House  of  Representatives  and  in  the  apportionment  of  the 
chairmanships  of  committees  and  membership  therein  such 
petty  considerations  play  no  small  part  and  the  course  of 
the  Legislature  on  all  important  matters  is  thereby  determined. 

At  Des  jMoines,  as  at  "Washington,  the  of^ce  of  Public  Printer 
was  an  alluring  prize.  One  of  Senator  Harlan's  strongest 
friends,  Mr.  John  Teesdale,  editor  of  The  Iowa  WeeMy  Citizen, 
had  held  the  office  since  1856.  He  desired  a  third  term  and 
deemed  himself  entitled  to  the  honor.  Two  other  influential 
republican  editors  were  ambitious  to  secure  the  emoluments 
of  the  office — ^Messrs.  James  B.  Howell  of  The  Gate  City  of 
Keokuk  and  j\Ir.  Frank  AY.  Palmer  of  The  Duhuque  Timesr 
The  fates  decided  in  favor  of  the  latter,  and  the  candidacy 
of  Senator  Harlan  for  re-election  to  the  National  Senate  had 
some  part  in  the  decision.  From  the  time  of  his  first  elec- 
tion to  that  body  in  1855,  republican  leaders  in  the  north  half 


^lou-a  City  Republican,  January  11,  1S60. — Editorial  Correspondence 
from  Des  Moines,  dated  January  7tli. 

=Therp  were  other  active  or  "receptive"  candidates  for  the  place  men- 
tioned besides  those  referred  to  above :  Messrs.  John  Mahin  of  The  Daily 
Muscatine  Journal.  G.  H.  Jerome  of  The  Iowa  Citii  Republican.  J.  G. 
Davenport  of  The  Times  of  Cedar  Rapids,  and  Alfred  Sanders  of  The  Daihj 
Davenport  Gazette.  (Capitol  Corr.  of  The  Gate  City,  January  11,  1S60, 
and  The  Daily  loica  State  Journal,  January  10,  1S60.)  Mr.  Mahin  appar- 
ently did  not  desire  the  office  seriously  for  he  states  that  Mr.  Teesdale's 
"most  prominent  competitor"  was  Mr.  Howell  of  The  Gate  City,  "the 
oldest  and  most  efficient  newspaper  conductor  in  the  state."  (Capitol  Corr. 
in  Daily  Muscatine  Journal,  January  11,  1860.) 


THE  REPUBLICAN  PRELIMINARIES  OF  1860  123 

of  the  State  had  demanded  a  like  honor  for  one  of  their 
leaders,  and  had  constantly  fanned  local  prejudices  with  that 
end  in  view.  Party  leadere  at  Dubuque  were  foremost  in 
urging  the  election  of  a  northern  man.  Despite  their  power- 
ful pressure  Governor  James  W.  Grimes,  a  near  neighbor  of 
jNIr.  Harlan,  was  elected  as  his  colleague  in  1858 ;  not  a  few 
of  the  senior  Senator's  friends  realized  the  danger  in  the 
latter  fact.  To  counterbalance  it,  political  prizes  of  lesser 
value  went  to  the  north  half  of  the  State.  This  consideration 
was  in  mind  in  the  nomination  of  ]Mr.  Kirkwood  for  Governor 
in  1859.^  In  1860  Dubuque  had  aspirants  for  senatorial  honors 
who  only  needed  a  favorable  slant  of  the  beam  to  induce 
their  announcement.  A  correspondent  of  The  Gate  City, 
writing  from  Des  Moines.  Dec.  26,  1859,  significantly  ob- 
serves :  ' '  The  Senatorial  question  seems  superficially  to  excite 
but  little  attention  here  just  now;  but  the  portents  of  the 
times  are  that  the  vexed  question  of  locality  will  be  exhumed 
for  the  benefit  of  solicitous  competitors. '  '- 

Appreciating  the  situation.  ]\Ir.  Palmer  became  a  candidate 
for  State  Printer.  In  the  contest  Senator  Harlan 's  managers 
could  not  prudently  promote  the  chances  of  either  Mr.  Tees- 
dale  or  ]\Ir-  Howell,  without  arousing  the  resentment  of  the 
"North-state"  partisans  favoring  ^Mr.  Palmer.  On  the  other 
hand  neutrality  is  no  less  a  roi?k'of  offense  in  politics — for 
those  adversely  affected  are  wont  to  suspect  that  it  signifies 
either  indifference  or  timidity,  deadly  offenses  in  the  code 
of  lay  politicians — ^those  who  seek  to  attain  or  to  hold  high 
oflSce  and  power  must  make  return  in  kind  to  those  humbler 
personages  whose  co-operation  and  votes  are  essential  to  their 
elevation  and  continuance  in  power.  Somewhat  of  the  im- 
portance and  heat  of  the  contest  may  be  inferred  from  the 
reports  of  two  observers.  Another  correspondent  of  The  Gate 
City,  "K"'  wrote  January  6th  that,  "It  is  now  thought  that 


iXumbers  of  letters  to  Senator  Harlan  from  1858  to  1860  emphasize 
the    considerations   referred    to    above.      Autobiographical   MSS. 

-The  Gate  Citv.  December  31,  1859.  The  Correspondent  signs  himself 
"J.  M.  D." — probably  the  late  J.  M.  Delaplaine  at  that  time  on  the  staff 
of  The  Gaie  City. 


121  IOWA  AND   ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 


the  great  light  of  the  session  will  be  about  the  State  Priut- 
ing."^  Four  days  later  when  the  caucus  had  been  called  for 
the  nomination  of  the  State  Printer  and  the  National  Senator, 
Mr.  Porter  states:  "The  race  for  State  Printer  has  become 
about  as  exciting  as  the  competition  for  the  post  of  would-be 
U.  S.  Senator."-  Those  familiar  Avith  maneuvers  in  party- 
caucuses  will  appreciate  the  significance  and  the  masterly 
tactics  of  Senator  Harlan's  friends  in  assenting  to  the  post- 
ponement of  the  decision  on  the  matter  of  the  State  Printer 
until  January  24:th.  The  cast  of  the  votes  Avhen  taken  gave 
i\Ir.  Palmer  the  prize. 

In  sundry  perplexities  of  this  sort  and  in  the  highly  unstable 
conditions  outlined,  we  may  well  suspect  that  there  was  more 
truth  than  partisan  presumption  and  persiflage  in  the  asser- 
tions of  Mr.  "Will  Porter,  the  Democratic  editor  of  The  State 
Journal  at  Des  Moines.  He  declared  that  Mr.  Harlan's 
friends  were  ' '  anxious  and  uneasy ; ' '  that ' '  they  were  afraid  of 
delav  and  hence  thev  forced  hastv  action ; '  '^  that  there  was 
much  suppressed  feeling  and  some  "strong  expressions  of  in- 
dignation ; ' '  that  the  Democrats  asked  for  a  reasonable  delay 
but  it  was  summarily  denied.  This  urgency  he  asserts  was  due 
to  the  fact  that  a  "particular  friend  of  Senator  Harlan,  who 
has  for  several  years  held  a  position  in  the  Senate  received 
letters  from  prominent  friends  and  perhaps  from  the  Senator 
himself,  urging  an  immediate  caucus  and  speedy  re-election — 
their  purport  was :  '  delays  are  dangerous. '  "  In  the  course  of 
his  comments  Mr.  Porter  throws  out  a  suggestion  that  al- 
though tinged  with  ironical  concern  for  an  unbiased  expres- 
sion of  the  general  sentiments  of  Kepublicans  on  the  senator- 
ship,  no  doubt  reflected  much  of  the  current  comment  in  the 
hotel  lobbies : 

The  question  is,  why  this  haste?  The  Republican  party  have  a 
clear  and  positive  majority,  which  could  not  be  affected  by  any  of 
the  ordinary  casualties  to  which  Legislators  are  subject.  Next 
Wednesday,  the  18th,  the  Republican  State  Convention  comes  off, 
which  will  be  fresh  from  the  people  of  that  party  throughout  the 
State.     They  might  have  given  to  the  various  Republican  Senators 


I 


i 


i/l>.,   January    11,    1S60.      "R"    was   probably   Mr.    Wm.    Richards,    then 
Business  Manager  of  The  Gate  City. 

•The  Daily  loiva  State  Journal,  January   10,    1860. 
•  Ub.,  January  14,   1860. 


THE  REPUBLICAN  PRELIMINARIES  OF  1860  125 

and  Representatives  some  counsels  direct  and  healthy  from  their 
constituents,  as  to  the  general  wishes  of  the  party  throughout  the 

State,  uncorrupted  by  any  machinations  so  rife  at  the  Capitol 

In  this  re-election  the  Republican  organization  has  been  shaken 
tc  its  foundation.^ 

Shrewd  as  were  some  of  the  political  leaders  foremost  in 
the  Republican  party  of  Iowa  in  1859-1860,  it  would  be  strange 
indeed  if  there  were  not  senatorial  politics  in  the  fringes  of 
the  decision  fixing  the  date  of  the  special  state  convention 
to  select  the  delegates  to  the  national  Republican  convention 
to  nominate  their  candidate  for  President.  The  conditions 
on  the  eve  of  the  assembly  of  the  delegates  certainly  afforded 
a  situation  for  a  free-for-all  contest  if  by  some  disturbance 
the  dogs  of  factions  had  been  set  upon  each  other. 

(b)      Sundry  Editorial  Expressions. 

The  near  approach  of  the  special  convention  to  select  the 
delegates  to  go  to  the  national  Republican  convention  elicited 
no  more  editorial  expressions  in  the  party  press  of  the  State 
respecting  its  work  or  the  wisdom  of  various  modes  of  pro- 
cedure than  did  the  call  for  the  convention  in  the  forepart 
of  December.  One  finds  no  advice,  no  comment  in  the  col- 
umns of  Messrs.  Aldrich,  Drummond,  Dunham,  Howell,  Je- 
rome, Junkin,  Mahin,  Norris,  Rich,  Sanders  and  Teesdale. 
One  must  look  sharply  to  discover  even  in  their  columns  de- 
voted to  local  news  any  mention  of  the  caucuses  or  county 
conventions  that  selected  the  county  delegates  to  attend  at 
Des  Moines.  Such  lack  of  expression  did  not  necessarily 
imply  indifference  respecting  the  presidential  contest  or  lan- 
guid interest  on  the  part  of  their  readers.  It  may  have  been 
due  to  wise  discretion  and  prudence.  The  attendance  at  the 
convention  demonstrated  that  public  or  party  interest  was 
not  dormant  or  halting.  Two  influential  editors  express  their 
feelings— each  in  different  ways  and  their  observations  are 
worth  noting. 

^Ih.,  January  16,  1860.  ,       ,  ^  ^ 

So  far  as  the  writer  can  discover  Mr.  A.  J.  Stevens,  a  banker  of  Des 
Moines,  then  the  member  of  the  national  Republican  committee  for  Iowa 
was  the  onlv  candidate  for  Senator  Harlan's  place  publicly  mentioned 
(Capitol  Coi-r.,  Muscatine  Journal,  January  11,  1860).  Mr.  Harlan  s 
friends  sent  him  many  letters  informing  him  of  talk  of  the  candidacy  or 
Messrs.  Jacob  Butler  of  Mu.scatine,  John  A.  Kasson,  and  George  G.  Wright 
of  Des  Moines,  and  of  Fitz  Henry  Warren  of  Burlington.  Autobiograhpt- 
ccil   MSB.,   pp.    3185-3.583. 


126 


IOWA  AND  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 


We  have  already  seen  the  cautions,  conservative  comments 
of  Mr.  Henry  P.  Scholte  of  The  Fella  Gazette  when  the  call 
for  the  convention  was  first  published.  On  January  4th,  re- 
ferring generally  to  the  work  of  the  national  convention  he 
says  particularly  of  candidates  for  its  nomination:  "AYe  have 
certainly  our  personal  preferences;  but  we  have  abstained  to 
forestall  our  state  and  national  conventions.  Should  our  state 
convention  deem  it  necessary  to  instruct  our  delegates  for 
whom  to  give  their  first  vote,  well  and  good ;  but  should  that 
convention  deem  it  better  to  give  no  decisive  instructions  in 
that  regard,  we  shall,  with  good  humor,  sustain  the  men  who 
shall  be  designated.  .  .  ."  The  sentiment  which  Mr.  Scholte 
expressed  reiterates  the  views  of  the  majority  of  the  experi- 
enced editors  of  the  State,  put  forth  in  their  columns  in 
1859.  Party  government,  like  government  at  large,  in  a  re- 
public like  ours  is  posited  upon  responsible  leadership.  The 
masses,  or  the  constituents  indicate  their  general  desire  and 
will  in  the  large  but  seldom  undertake  to  direct  specifically 
as  to  the  modes  of  realization  either  in  respect  of  men  or 
measures.  To  their  leaders  in  council  they  delegate  the  power 
to  decide,  believing  that  a  few  selectmen  free  to  act  as  condi- 
tions make  expedient,  will  insure  better  counsels  and  wiser 
decisions  than  many  men  of  many  minds  acting  indiscrimi- 
nately and  ill-advisedly. 

One  hundred  miles  north  of  Pella,  at  Charles  City  in 
Floyd  county,  not  far  south  of  the  Minnesota  line,  a  new  note 
was  sounded — struck  by  one,  too,  who  previously  had  been 
cautious  and  conservative  in  expression  and  suggestion.  Mr. 
Hildreth  in  the  forepart  of  1859,  indicated  a  favorable  atti- 
tude towards  the  candidacy  of  Judge  Bates,  and  an  adverse 
disposition  towards  that  of  Senator  Seward,  for  the  reason 
largely  that  the  latter  was  so  generally  proclaimed  a  radical, 
and  reckless  extremist  upon  the  subject  of  Slavery.  A  decided 
change  in  the  temperature  and  drift  of  public  discussion 
followed  John  BroAvn's  raid  and  the  publication  of  Helper's 
Impending  Crisis.  The  leaders  of  the  South  were  infuriated 
and  their  denunciation  of  the  abettors  and  comforters  of 
Brown  and  Helper  was  bitter  and  scathing.     Accusations  of 


k 


THE  REPUBLICAN  PRELIMINARIES  OP  1860  127 

conspiracy,  "lawlessness"  and  treason  hurtled  through  the 
council  chambers  at  Washington — not  vague  hints  and  sly- 
innuendo  but  personal  mention,  bald,  direct,  brutal.  The 
members  of  the  major  party  of  the  North  Avere  called  indis- 
criminately "  Abolitionists,"  a  term  of  utter  contempt  in  the 
mouths  of  Southerners  and  so  considered  by  Northerners.  The 
heaviest,  sharpest  missiles  of  the  speeches  of  the  Slavocrats 
were  aimed  at  one  man  on  whose  shoulders  they  laid  the  re- 
sponsibility for  Abolitionism,  which  was  manifest  to  them 
in  "nigger  stealing,"  underground  railways,  open  defiance  of 
the  Fugitive  Slave  law,  all  of  which  had  its  fruition  in  John 
Brown,  whose  execution  for  high  treason,  flagrant  and  un- 
denied,  was  publicly  mourned  in  the  North.  That  man  they 
deemed  the  spokesman  of  the  North  and  the  protagonists  of 
the  South  declared  with  but  little  reserve,  that  disunion  by 
secession  would  ensue  if  he  should  be  made  President.  The 
change  and  concentration  in  political  discussion  produced  a 
revulsion  of  feeling  in  Mr.  Hildreth  and  a  decision  not  in- 
frequent in  strong  natures  normally  inclined  to  conservative 
courses  when  long  subject  to  direct  and  increasing  malevo- 
lence. Considerateness  in  conduct,  caution,  grace  and  patience 
under  such  circumstances,  are  taken  by  the  provoking  party 
as  evidence  of  weakness  or  as  the  shifts  and  finesse  of  hostile 
design.  While  with  the  one  provoked,  patience  ceases  to  be 
a  virtue,  caution  seems  ill-advised,  and  he  suddenly  takes  up 
the  gauntlet  thrown  at  his  feet,  for  a  fight  seems  demanded 
and  a  fight  he  will  give  and  squarely  on  the  main  issue.  j\Ir. 
Hildreth,  exasperated  beyond  endurance,  gave  expression  on 
January  12th  to  his  intense  feelings  in  an  editorial  that  is 
instructive  for  more  than  one  reason  and  it  is  given  at  length. 
Its  declarations  will  indicate  with  decisive  clearness  the  high 
voltage  of  the  electricity  with  which  the  atmosphere  of  politi- 
cal debate  in  Iowa  was  surcharged,  when  the  chiefs  of  the 
elans  of  the  Republican  party  first  met  in  1860  to  decide  upon 
their  course  in  the  Chicago  convention 

We  notice  that  some  of  the  papers  in  the  Southern  part  of  the 
State,  are  out  in  favor  of  Simon  Cameron,  of  Pennsylvania,  as  a  Re- 
publican   candidate   for   the   Presidency.     That   Cameron   is   an   as- 


1-28  IOWA  AXD  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

piriug  man  we  have  known  for  a  long  time,  and  we  have  no  doubt 
that  he  and  his  agents  are  busy  in  "fixing  the  flints"  of  the  Western 
press — in  other  words,  moulding  a  Western  public  opinion  in  his 
favor.  But.  gentlemen,  Editors  of  Iowa,  this  will  not  do.  The  an- 
tecedents of  Simon  Cameron  are  not  satisfactory.  Such  times  as 
these  demand  a  representative  man  for  a  Presidential  candidate  of 
the  Republican  party.  The  doctrine  of  availability  has  been  prac- 
ticed upon  by  both  the  great  leading  political  parties,  until  the  na- 
tion, both  in  character  and  finance,  has  been  brought  upon  the  brink 
of  ruin. 

We  believe  that  the  Republicans  will  be  able  to  elect  whoever 
they  may  nominate  for  President.  Then  throw  aside  "availability" 
and  give  us  a  positive  man — one  whose  historj-  and  principles  are 
well  known  and  are  thoroughly  tried — a  man  who  may  be  fully  re- 
garded as  the  embodiment  of  the  principles  and  the  measures  of  the 
party.    That  man  is  unquestionably  William  H.  Seward. 

Does  the  reader  ask  our  reasons  for  this  opinion — we  answer: 
The  slavery  propagandists — now  the  Democratic  party — have  made 
the  selection  for  us.  It  is  around  Seward's  unoffending  head  that 
all  their  wrath  is  concentrated.  So  much  do  they  hate  and  fear 
him  that  they  are  continually  threatening  a  dissolution  of  the  L'nion 
should  Republicans  dare  to  exercise  their  rights  under  the  Consti- 
tution and  elect  him  for  President. 

Our  former  predilections  were  for  Edward  Bates  ot  Missouri,  as  a 
Western  man  and  a  man  representing  our  sentiments.  Our  "avail- 
able" man  was  John  C.  Fremont,  a  man  who  will  draw  more  votes 
than  anj'  other  one  the  Republicans  can  put  in  nomination.  But 
our  positive  man  is  William  H.  Seward,  and  believing  that  the  Re- 
publicans can  elect  any  man  they  may  nominate,  we  go  for  Seward, 
heart  and  soul. 

Six  months  ago  it  was  difficult  to  tell  who  would  or  who  should 
be  the  Republican  candidate  for  President,  but  not  so  now.  As  said 
before,  the  Southern  press  and  Southern  leaders  have  made  procla- 
mations— and  indeed  it  is  their  one  continual  howl — that  if  the  free- 
men of  the  North  dare  to  disregard  their  impudent  dictation,  and 
elect  to  the  Presidency,  William  H.  Seward,  they  will  secede  from  or 
destroy  the  Union,  and  smash  up  things  generally.  In  our  opinion 
this  settles  the  question  for  us. 

Thus  threatened  and  bullied,  men  who  never  preferred  Seward 
to  other  well-known  and  long-tried  Republicans  for  the  Presidency, 
have  now  but  one  fixed  and  unalterable  determination  in  regard  to 
who  shall  be  their  Standard-Bearer  in  1S60.  They  intend  to 
prove  that  they  not  only  clearly  understand  their  constitutional 
rights  and  privileges,  but  that  they  have  the  necessary  nerve  to 
maintain  them.  They  will  not  threaten  or  bully  or  play  the  brag- 
gadocio.   All  that  they  leave  to  the  men  who  quailed  before  old  John 


THE  REPUBLICAN   PRELIMINARIES  OF  1860  129 

Brown  and  his  seventeen  miserable  Abolitionists,  and  who  have 
been  marching  troops  up  and  down  the  country  to  frighten  away 
the  shadow  of  a  danger  which  had  no  substance,  save  in  their 
cowardly  apprehensions,  and  the  absence  of  all  self-reliance  in  the 
hour  of  danger.  They  intend  to  vindicate  their  self-respect,  to  show 
their  estimate  of  bullying  threats,  by  electing  to  the  Presidency 
the  very  man  the  South  would  ostracize.  They  will  then  leave  to 
him  and  his  co-administrators  of  the  Government  the  punishment 
of  treason  whenever  and  wherever  it  dares  to  exhibit  itself.  And 
they  have  no  fears  for  the  result.  Barking  dogs  rarely  bite;  and 
when  they  do,  are  certain  to  be  punished  for  having  mistaken  their 
vocation. 

We  can  tell  our  pro-slavery  friends,  and  they  had  better  believe 
it,  that  if  any  portion  of  this  great  confederacy  w^hether  it  be  the 
East  or  the  West,  the  North  or  the  South,  attempts  to  withdraw  from 
the  Union,  they  will  be  promptly  icJiipped — aye,  tvhipped  into  sub- 
jection. It  is  all  idle  to  mince  the  matter.  The  fiat  has  gone  forth 
and  will  be  enforced;  let  Washington,  Oregon  and  California,  at 
the  Northwest,  or  Maine,  New  Hampshire  and  Massachusetts,  at  the 
Northeast  or  the  Agricultural  States  of  the  North  and  Center,  or 
the  slave  States  of  the  South  and  the  Southwest — let  any  one  of 
them  or  any  combination  of  them  raise  the  banner  of  rebellion 
against  the  Aiiierican  Union — we  care  not  what  their  pretence  for 
treason — as  certainly  as  there  is  a  God  above,  so  certain  is  it,  that 
the  offending  States,  will  be  whipped  into  obedience,  and  the  traitors 
who  encouraged  rebellion,  terminate  their  career  upon  the  gallows.^ 

Sundry  facts  in  connection  with  the  foregoing  editorial  may 
well  be  noted  before  passing  on  to  later  phases.  In  the  first 
place  its  significance  is  enhanced  when  we  consider  that  the 
writer  was  not  a  Harry  Hotspur  as  was  Mr.  Thomas  Drum- 
mond  of  The  Eagle  of  Vinton,  nor  a  radical  of  the  type  of  ilr. 
John  ]\lahin  of  Tlie  Journal  of  Muscatine.  He  was  a  cool,  de- 
liberate ' '  down  east ' '  Yankee  who  had  had  twenty  years  of  ex- 
perience as  an  editor  in  Vermont  and  Massachusetts.  Further, 
at  the  time  he  wrote  the  lines,  he  was  a  member  of  the  most 
potent  body  in  the  state  government  of  Iowa,  the  Board  of 
Education,  that  under  a  special  clause  of  the  constitution  had 
plenary  powers  of  legislation,  supervision,  control  and  adjudi- 
cation in  the  finance  and  administration  of  the  entire  edu- 
cational system  of  the  State,  of  the  common,  secondary  and 
the  highest  state  schools. 

^St.    Charles  Intelligencer,  Jan.    12,    1860. 
0 


130  IOWA  AND   ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

Mr.  Hildreth,  it  is  clear,  looked  upon  the  movement  for  the 
nomination  of  Senator  Cameron  of  Pennsylvania  with  some 
concern,  evidently  considering  it  to  be  gathering  decided  head- 
way.    He,  no  less  than  other  editors  who  have  been  quoted, 
appreciated  the  strategic  importance  of  securing  the  electoral 
vote  of  the  Keystone  state.    But  considerations  of  expediency 
lumped  together  under  the  catch  word  "availability"  were 
not  sufficient  to  warrant  the  nomination  of  the  Pennsylvanian 
at  Chicago.     He  was  a  shrewd  and  successful  politician,  an 
artful  and  skilled  tactician  in  the  organization  and  direction 
of  party  workers  in  political  campaigns  and  field  maneuvers, 
in  the  working  and  control  of  the  "machine"  as  we  put  it 
nowadays.    But  neither  his  character  nor  his  career  symbolized 
the  dominant   opinion,   or,   perhaps  better,   the  determining 
opinion  on  the  major  issue  uppermost  in  the  public  mind — 
to-wit,  Slavery.     On  this  issue  the  entire  public  was  intensely 
alive.     Its  consideration  could  neither  be  avoided  nor  hedged 
against  by  party  leaders,  much  as  they  might  Avish  to  do  so; 
and  their  candidate  for  the  Presidency  must  needs  be  satis- 
factory to  the  mass  of  the  Republicans  in  the  reliable  states 
as  well  as 'to  those  in  the  doubtful  states.     Senator  Cameron, 
whether  justly  or  not,  had  a  reputation  that  made  voters  con- 
cerned only  with  the  evils  of  public  life,  and  not  at  all  with ' 
the  game  and  methods  of  politics,  extremely  suspicious;  and 
however  agreeable  he  might  be  to  the  politicians  of  Pennsyl- 
vania, his  nomination  at  Chicago  would  neither  secure  the 
faith  nor   arouse  the  enthusiasm   of  Republicans,   let   alone 
win  new  adherents  to  the  party's  standards. 

The  most  striking  facts  in  Mr.  Hildreth's  editorials  are 
his  acceptance  of  the  threats  of  Secession  by  the  Southern 
Fire-eaters  as  deliberate  and  serious,  and  his  definite  and 
solemn  defiance  to  the  promoters  of  Disunion.  Secession  had 
been  the  bogie  of  political  discussion  for  many  years.  In  the 
Fremont  campaign  in  1856  threats  of  Disunion  were  boldly 
and  freely  made,  but  at  the  North  they  were  generally  dis- 
counted and  ridiculed  as  "idle  talk"  and  "silly  nonsense."' 
The  emeute  at  Harper's  Ferry  and  Helper's  Impending  Crisis, 

'Von  Hoist,  Constitutional  and  Political  History  of  the  United  States, 
V,   247-251. 


THE  REPUBLICAN  PRELIMINARIES  OF  1860  UHl 

and  the  deadlock  over  the  Speakership  in  Congress,  caused  a 
renewal  of  such  threats.      "The   Capitol  resounds  with  the 
cries  of  dissolution,"  wrote  Senator  Grimes  to  Mrs.  Grimes, 
"and  the  cry  is  echoed  throughout  the  city. "^    But  again  the 
leaders  and  the  press  of  the  Republican  party  regarded,  or 
at  least  proclaimed  the  seditious  utterances  as  partisan  tricks 
— "a  game  for  the  Presidency"  wrote  Thurlow  Weed;  "an 
audacious  humbug,"  declared  Greeley's  Tribune f  and  Sena- 
tor Grimes  deemed  them  designed  ' '  simply  to  coerce,  to  fright- 
en the  Republicans.'""     Throughout  1860  Republicans  com- 
monly derided  the   miniatory   language  of  Southerners,   al- 
though Mr.  Rhodes  gives  us  grounds  for  his  suggestion  that 
their  scoffing  was  mainly  for  party  purposes.*    A  fact  signifi- 
cant of  this  conclusion — although  by  no  means  necessarily 
so — was  the  general  contempt  heaped  upon  the  participants 
in   the    "Union-saving   Meetings"   and   programs   promoted 
during  the  period  here  considered.    The  Republican  editors  of 
Iowa,  as  in  the  older  states  to  the  east,  regarded  such  proceed- 
ings as  nefarious  and  designed  to  weaken  the  strength  of  their 
party.^    The  utter  unpreparedness  of  the  North  for  the  catas- 
trophe when  the  storm  broke  in  1861,  and  the  tremendous 
shock  and  rebound  universally  Avitnessed,  indicates  pretty  con- 
clusively  that   Mr.    Hildreth's   serious   consideration   of   the 
"strong  talk"  of  the  Slavocrats  was  not  common.    How  com- 
mon Mr.  Hildreth's  feelings  were  in  Iowa  at  that  time  we 
can  not  now  determine ;  but  we  have  already  noted  the  defi- 
ance of   another  cool   conservative   editor,   Mr.   Howell.     In 
June,  1858,  to  the  treasonable  declarations  of  The  Crescent  of 
New  Orleans,  he  replied,  ' '  all  such  fanatics  as  The-  Crescent 
.     .     .     will  be  driven  like  dogs  to  their  kennels  or  hung  by 


^Salter's  Life  of  Jas.  W.   Grimes.   121. 
n'on  Hoist,  lb..  VII,   230-240.     ^gaiter,  lb.,  122. 
"Rhodes,  History  of  the  United  States,  II,  4  88. 

'-The  Daily  Muscatine  JournaJ,  December  28,  1859.     See  editorial  on  "The 
Union  Saving  Farce." 


132  IOWA  AND   ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

the  wayside  as  a.  warning  to  traitors,"  should  they  attempt 
secession  on  the  election  of  a  Republican  President.*  <  \ 

Normally  we  should  expect  to  find  vigorous  language  of  this 
sort  in  the  columns  of  Mr.  John  ^lahin's  Journal  at  Musca- 
tine, but  for  the  most  part  he  was  silent,  at  least  so  far  as 
extended  slashing  editorials  go.  On  January  12th,  in  con- 
trasting the  character  of  Charleston  and  Chicago  as  conven- 
tion cities  and  the  spirit  and  purposes  of  the  men  who  would 
assemble  in  them  to  represent  the  two  great  parties  to  decide 
on  their  national  platforms  and  candidates,  Mr.  Mahin  uses 
some  firm  language : 

.  .  .  all  the  loud  and  excited  talk  of  the  fire  eaters,  and  the 
-whining  of  the  dirt  eaters — the  two  classe's  which  compose  the 
Democratic  party  will  have  no  other  effect  than  to  sti'engthen  their 
determination  [of  the  Republicans]  to  take  the  administration  of 
the  affairs  of  the  country  out  of  the  hands  of  the  unscrupulous 
demagogues  who  are  now  at  the  helm.  The  Republican  party  holds 
that  slavery  should  be  restricted  to  its  present  limits,  and  upon  this 
issue  it  will  receive  the  hearty  support  of  a  large  class  at  the 
South,  who  believe  that  slavery  operates  against  the  welfare  of  the 
States  in  which  it  at  present  exists.  Republicans  are  determined 
to  preserve  the  Union  against  the  threats  and  acts  of  disunionists 
everywhere;  and,  as  we  said,  the  convention  at  Chicago  will  bind 
together  in  an  invincible  phalanx,  good  and  true  men,  at  the  North 
and  South,  for  the  election  of  a  president  upon  these  grounds. 
Abuses,  of  course,  will  be  heaped  upon  the  party  by  the  "Demo- 
cratic" press  and  "Democratic"  orators,  but  the  people  cannot  be 
deceived  by  any  such  stuff.  They  have  not  forgotten  that  the 
fathers  of  the  Republic  occupied  the  identical  position  upon  the 
Slavery  question  that  the  Republican  party  now  occupies  and  their 
decision  at  the  ballot  box  in  November,  will  be  their  answer  to  the 
"Democratic"  argument  of  the  campaign,  from  which,  if  not  satis- 
factory to  them,  they  cannot  appeal. 

Mr.  Howell  of  The  Gate  City  had  no  advice  to  offer  the  dele- 
gates to  the  state  convention,  but  on  January  11th  he  placed 
before  his  readers  the  name  of  a  candidate  for  the  presidential 
noinination  not  heretofore  mentioned,  but  not  a  name  im- 
knoAvn.  As  was  his  wont  he  did  so  "without  prejudice," 
being  completely  non-committal  as  to  his  own  feelings  for  or 
against  the  candidate  and  his  consideration.    He  said  : 


^The  Gate  City.  June  30,  1858. 

Mr.  Howell,  reciting  similar  threats  in  the  presidential  campaign  of 
1828,  in  the  event  of  the  election  of  J.  Q.  Adams,  and  again  during  the 
speakership  contest  when  N.  P.  Banks  was  a  candidate,  observed  on  the 
current  threats :  "The  Disunion  game  is  an  old  game.  It  is  played  on 
purpose  to  'gull  the  flats'  and  so  long  as  the  'flats'  exist  they  expect  to 
be  successful.  Whether  the  game  is  played  out  or  not  is  a  thing  to  be 
proved."  (The  Gate  City.  December  26,  1859.)  Two  weeks  later  he  re- 
proves Democratic  editors  for  not  denouncing  the  suggestion  that  Disunion 
would  be  beneficial  to  the   South.      (7b..   January  9,   1860.) 


THE  REPUBLICAN  PRELIMINARIES  OF  1860  133 

The  friends  of  Mr.  Dayton  have  issued  a  circular  to  promote  his 
nomination  to  the  Presidency.  They  say  that  full  conferences  have 
established  the  fact  that  he  would  receive  the  vote  of  the  united 
opposition  in  New  Jersey  and  be  certain  to  carry  the  State;  and  they 
feel  confident  that  the  same  elements  of  popularity,  the  same  ante- 
cedents and  the  same  general  state  of  things  politically  in  Pennsyl- 
vania that  prevail  in  New  Jersey  would  enable  him  to  carry  that 
state. 

Mr.  Dunham's  comment  in  The  Hawh-Eye  (Jan.  10th)  on 
the  claim  of  ]\Ir.  Dayton's  promoters  that  his  popularity  in 
New  Jersey  and  Pennsylvania  would  carry  those  states  for  the 
Republicans  was  somewhat  critical :  "  .  .  .  the  fact  that 
he  failed  to  do  so  as  a  candidate  for  Vice-President  in  1856  is 
not  satisfactorily  reconciled  with  this  assumption.  Mr.  Day- 
ton is  an  eminently  conservative  man  with  Whig  antecedents 
and  would  make  a  good  president  if  elected. ' '  Such  comment 
indicates  adverse  inclinations  but  it  is  so  cushioned  with  com- ' 
mendation  that  the  critic  is  not  embarrassed  if  the  fates  decide 
in  the  candidate's  favor. 

The  writer  has  discovered  but  one  editorial  specifically 
urging  the  nomination  of  a  particular  candidate  in  the  fore 
part  of  January.  Mr.  Orlando  McCraney,  editor  of  The 
Weekly  McGregor  Press,  declared  himself  again  in  favor  of  the 
nomination  of  Judge  Bates.  A  portion  of  his  editorial  suc- 
ceeds : 

The  time  is  now  drawing  near  when  the  candidates  of  the  differ- 
ent parties  and  interests  for  their  responsible  positions  are  to  be 
brought  forward.  The  political  sentiment  of  the  country  never  be- 
fore was  in  so  unsettled  a  condition  as  today,  and  but  few  men 
in  the  North  at  least,  are  prepared  to  pledge  fidelity  to  any  particu- 
lar party.  The  conservative  Republican  element,  we  think,  will 
predominate,  and  the  opposition  will  fall  into  line 

We  are  but  one  of  the  millions  interested  in  this  great  political 
mcvement,  yet  we  claim  the  right  to  be  heard.  Our  vote  and  our 
influence  will  be  extended  in  behalf  of  the  nomination  of  Edward 
Bates  of  Missouri,  as  the  candidate  of  the  people,  believing,  as  we 
do,  that  he  is  not  only  one  of  the  best,  most  talented,  able  and  lib- 
eral men  of  the  day,  but  that  he  is  a  man  who  is  closely  identified 
with  the  interest  of  our  portion  of  the  Union.  That  he  will  be  the 
friend  of  the  pioneer — that  he  will  exert  his  influence  in  opening  to 
commerce  our  vast  west,  and  giving  life  and  zeal  to  emigration. 


lai 


IOWA  AND   ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 


Edward  Bates  is  also  our  choice  on  account  ol  availability.  We 
regard  him  as  one  of  the  most  popular  men  of  the  day  and  ac- 
ceptable alike  to  the  North  and  South,  East  and  West.  He  has 
been  called  forward  not  by  a  life  spent  in  demagogism  hut  by  his 
fellow  countrymen,  and  if  the  honors  and  responsibilities  of  that  of- 
fice are  conferred  upon  him,  it  will  be  unasked  for  and  unsolicited 
by  him.  He  will  come  into  office  untrammelled  by  fealty  to  party  or 
persons.  He  will  be  free  to  act  according  to  the  convictions  of 
his  own  mind  and  will  make  the  people  an  able  and  worthj'  presi- 
dent. 

Mr.  Dunham  reprints  the  foregoing  without  comment.^ 
The  significance  of  surface  phenomena  in  the  currents  of 
politics  is  always  difficult  to  apprehend;  just  as  it  is  difficult 
to  perceive  the  purport  of  eddies  and  swirls  in  the  currents 
of  our  rivers.  The  following  extract  from  a  letter  written  to 
The  Gate  Ctij  and  dated  at  New  York  City,  Jan.  7,  I860,  is  not 
•without  interest : 

At  a  social  meeting,  by  invitation,  at  a  private  house,  one  even- 
ing this  w'eek,  where  some  twenty  republicans  of  the  city  were 
present,  together  with  General  Pomeroy  of  Kansas,  Gen.  Reid,  May- 
or Leighton,  Wm.  S.  McGavic,  D.  W.  Kilbourne,  of  Keokuk,  Attor- 
nej'-General  Rice  of  Oskaloosa,  and  Jacob  Butler,  Esq.,  of  Musca- 
tine, there  was  a  decided  preference  expressed  by  most  of  [the]  party 
(except  the  Iowa  gentleman)  for  Chase  of  Ohio.  Seward,  Chase, 
Bates,  Cameron,  and  Wade  seem  to  be  the  most  prominent  at  the 
present  time.- 

The  adverse  attitude  of  so  many  different  lowans  from 
widely  separate  sections  of  the  southern  half  of  the  State 
towards  the  candidacy  of  Gov.  Chase  is  suggestive.  All  of  the 
men  mentioned  were  ardent  Republicans.  Mr.  Butler,  in  par- 
ticular, was  an  Abolitionist  of  a  pronounced  type.  Gov. 
Chase's  record  as  an  anti-slavery  man  could  not  be  gainsaid 
except  by  extremists  of  the  most  violent  sort.  Such  disinclina- 
tion in  respect  of  his  nomination  must  have  signified  a  common 
belief  that  he  could  not  be  elected  if  nominated. 

(c)     Some  of  the  County  Preliminaries. 

The  local  preliminaries  incident  to  the  selection  of  the  dele- 
gates to  attend  the  state  convention  at  Des  jNIoines  aroused  but 
little  public  interest  if  we  should  conclude  from  the  reports 


^The  Hawk-Eye    (wk.),   Jan.    21, 
The    Gate    City,    Jan.    18,    1860. 


1860. 


THE  REPUBLICAN  PRELIMINARIES  OF  1860  135 

thereof  in  the  party  press  of  the  State.  One  experiences  dif- 
ficulty in  discovering  calls  or  notices  of  local  caucuses  or  pri- 
maries or  county  conventions.  There  is  little  space  given  to 
their  proceedings;  and  almost  no  comment  thereon.  A  few 
details  are  discoverable,  some  of  which  are  instructive,  for  they 
suggest  the  major  currents  that  were  constantly  running  be- 
neath the  surface. 

The  selection  of  the  delegates  for  Dubuque  county  elicited 
a  brief  note  in  The  Duhuque  Herald.  Among  the  delegates 
chosen  were  Judge  W.  W.  Hamilton,  Wm.  B.  Allison  and  D. 
N.  Cooley.  Two  other  names,  Messrs.  Francis  Mangold  and 
H.  W.  Kichter,  suggest  the  "recognition"  of  the  German- 
American  element  in  that  community ^  At  Davenport  the 
part}'  leaders  were  careful  to  attend  to  the  nativity  of  the 
delegates,  if  we  may  believe  the  classification  of  The  Daven- 
port Democrat.  Of  the  twelve  delegates — five  were  Germans, 
N.  J.  Rusch,  G.  G.  Aradt,  L.  Schricker,  H.  Ramming,  and 
H.  L.  Lischerj  three  were  Irishmen,  James  Quinn,  B.  F. 
Guv  and  Alfred  Sanders;  and  four  were  Americans,  John 
W.  Thompson.  AVm.  Henry  Fitzhugh  Gurley,  Geo.  W.  Ells, 
and  Chas.  Foster.  To  some  sarcastic  suggestion  of  The  Demo- 
crat, the  "administration"  organ  at  Davenport,  anent  the  na- 
tionalities ^Ir.  :\Iahin  at  Muscatine,  retorted:  "Well,  what 
of  it,  ]\Ir.  Democrat?  Are  you  such  an  out-and-out  Know- 
Nothing  as  to  complain  because  eight  of  these  delegates  are 
foreigners  and  only  five  are  natives?"'  Farther  down  the 
river  at  Burlington  the  delegates  were  chosen  apparently  with- 
out fuss.  Two  names— Messrs.  C.  W.  Bodeman  and  T.  B. 
Weober-  -again  indicate  that  sons  of  Germania  were  numerous 
enough  to  be  reckoned  with  and  hence  were  entitled  to  re- 
presentation in  the  party's  councils.  Three  state  notables  ap- 
pear in  the  lists — Mr.  Chas.  Ben  Darwin,  chairman  of  the 
Code  Commission  that  was  then  about  to  submit  its  draft  of 
the  Code  of  1860  to  the  Legislature,  Judge  L.  D.  Stockton, 
then  one  of  the  Justices  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Iowa,  and 
Mr.  Fitz  Henry  Warren,  of  whom  more  later.  The  convention 
or  the  "meeting"  voted  that  the  "Central  committee  [of  Des 


^The  Dubuque  Herald,  December  29.  1859. 

-The  Daily  Muscatine  Jourual.  January  6,    1860. 


l:',(i  IOWA  AND  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

Moines  county?]  fill  the  vacancies  in  the  delegation  should 
any  occur.  "^  Mr.  Dunham  makes  no  editorial  reference  in 
Ike  Hawk-Eye  to  the  convention,  nor  to  the  delegates  nor  to 
the  approaching  state  convention.  The  state  convention  seems 
to  have  had  no  special  interest  to  the  editors  of  Tlie  Gate  City. 
Mr.  Howell  was  chairman  of  the  county  central  committee 
and  issued  (Dec.  16)  the  call  for  the  county  convention  to 
assemble  at  Charleston,  in  Lee  county  (Dec.  31)  ;  but  although 
he  and  his  business  manager  were  generally  interested  in  the 
final  result  one  finds  no  reference  to  the  proceedings.  In 
Wapello  county,  and  in  Ottumwa  the  convention  took  no  ac- 
tion that  attracted  special  interest  except  to  specify  by  resolu- 
tion as  to  the  manner  of  casting  the  vote  if  some  of  the  dele- 
gates should  fail  to  attend  at  Des  Moines.-  Mr.  Teesdale's  pa- 
per related  the  proceedings  of  the  convention  of  Polk  county 
in  two  inches  of  space.". 

We  have  already  seen  that  the  Republicans  of  Fremont 
county  instructed  their  delegates  to  Des.  Moines  to  work  for  the 
nomination  of  Justice  John  McLean  for  President  and  Judge 
Edward  Bates  for  Vice-President.*  And  that  the  local  caucus 
at  Ne^^i;on  directed  their  representatives  in  the  county  conven- 
tion of  Jasper  county  to  seek  to  secure  the  nomination  of 
Salmon  P.  Chase  and  of  Abraham  Lincoln  for  first  and  second 
places  on  the  national  ticket.^  Whether  any  like  action  was 
taken  or  opposed  at  the  ensuing  convention  the  writer  can  not 
say.  The  Republicans  of  Black  Hawk  county  apparently  were 
composed  of  some  lusty  radicals  for  they  directed  their  dele- 
gates "to  use  their  influence  at  the  state  convention  for  dele- 
gates to  the  national  convention  who  are  in  favor  of  the  nomi- 
nation of  Wm.  H.  Seward  or  Charles  Sumner  as  the  Republi- 
can candidate  for  President."®  Instructions  such  as  these 
make  ardent  partisans  and  insistent  promoters  of  candidates 
groan  in  spirit  and,  if  they  dare,  indulge  in  strong  language. 


^The  Burlington  Haiok-Eye,  January  2,    1860. 

"The  Weekly  Ottumwa   Courier,  January  5,   1860. 

^Daihi  State  Register,  January  9,   1860. 

*Ib.,  January  13,    1860. 

'^The  Gate  City,  January  11.  1860. 

"The  Black  Hatck  Courier,  January   3,   1860. 


THE  REPUBLICAN  PRELIMINARIES  OF  1860  i:W 

Here  and  there  the  waters  surged  up  vigorously  and  white 
caps  Avere  observable.  The  turmoil  at  AVashington  had  its 
reaction  in  some  of  the  county  conventions.  The  Republicans 
of  Grundy  county  felt  strongly  and  gave  expression  to  their 
feelings  upon  the  course  of  affairs  at  the  notional  capital. 
Their  resolutions  were  pointed  and  pithy : 

Resolved,  That  the  Republicans  of  Gi'undy  county  approve  of 
the  determined  stand  our  Representatives  in  Congress  have  taken 
in  the  election  of  Speaker,  believing  as  we  do,  that  those  who  recom- 
mend Helper's  Book  are  safer  men  than  avowed  disunionists. 

Resolved,  That  we  are  in  favor  of  the  Union,  inasmuch  as  we 
have  prospered  under  it,  and  as  we  see  no  good  cause  for  abandon- 
ing it,  we  will  stay  in  it,  and  we  will  make  all  others  stay  in  it, 
or  do  as  General  Jackson  would  have  done,  hang  all  who  attempt 
to  get  out  of  it.' 

The  names  of  only  two  lowans  appeared  among  the  en- 
dorsers of  Plelper's  book,  Mr.  Timothy  Davis  of  Dubuque, 
Congressman  from  Iowa  from  1857-59,  and  Col.  S.  R.  Curtis, 
then  in  Congress.-  The  Republican  central  committee  of  Mus- 
catine county  deemed  the  urgency  of  public  questions  so  great 
that  they  made  special  mention  of  the  fact  when  they  pub- 
lished (Dec.  8)  their  "request"  of  the  Republicans  to  meet 
in  "Mass  Convention"  on  January  7th,  at  the  county  court- 
house ;  thus  concluding : 

We  respectfully  suggest  that  there  be  on  this  occasion  a  genei'al 
attendance  from  all  parts  of  the  county,  to  give  an  authoritative 
expression  to  the  sentiments  of  the  Republicans  of  this  county  upon 
the  exciting  questions  now  agitating  the  country,  and  of  their  prefer- 
ences as  to  the  manner  of  conducting  the  coming  campaign. 

The  chairman  of  the  committee  signing  the  foregoing  was 
Mr.  Hugh  J.  Campbell,  who  was  then  manifesting  the  energy 
and  decisiveness  of  character  that  made  his  subsequent  career 
influential  in  Louisiana  and  the  Dakotas.^     The  convention 


iTfee  Daily  State  Register,  February   2,   1860. 

■Conci.   Globe,  31   Cong.,    1st  Sess.,  Vol.    1-16. 

■'He  became  a  Brigadier-General  by  brevet  on  being  mustered  out  of  tlie 
Union  army  at  the  close  of  the  war.  Later  he  was  appointed  federal  judge 
in  Louisiana.  While  in  that  State  he  achieved  fame  or  infamy  as  a  mern- 
ber  of  the  election  board  in  the  electoral  contest  in  1876-77.  He  gave  his 
decision  in  favor  of  the  Republican  presidential  electors,  thereby  msurmg 
the  election  of  President  Hayes.  Afterwards  he  moved  to  the  Territory 
of  Dakota  where  he  served  for  years  as  District  Attorney.  His  activities 
on  behalf  of  statehood  for  the  present  Dakotas  gained  him  the  sobriquet 
of  "Father  of  Statehood."  AiJpleton's  Cyclopedia  of  American  Biography, 
VII,    47. 


138  IOWA  AND   ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

occurred  as  scheduled  with  a  number  of  promineut  party 
chiefs  in  attendance.  Judge  George  Meason  presided.  Mr. 
Geo.  H.  Van  Home  was  made  Secretary.  Later  he  was  ap- 
pointed Consul  at  Marseilles  by  President  Lincoln,  and  had  a 
creditable  career  as  a  journalist,  lecturer  and  Avriter.  The 
convention  transacted  its  main  business  apparently  without 
friction,  choosing  an  exceptionally  strong  delegation,  eight  in 
number,  to  attend  at  Des  Moines.  Among  the  delegates  was 
Mr.  D.  C.  Cloud,  Iowa's  first  Attorney-General  (1853-1856). 
The  course  of  the  Democratic  party  in  Kansas  forced  him  to 
abandon  that  party.  He  was  later  the  author  of  several  books 
of  considerable  local  currency.^  Mr.  Suel  Foster,  a  noted 
pioneer  horticulturist  to  whom  chief  credit  is  given  for  creat- 
ing the  demand  that  led  to  the  establishing  of  the  Agricultural 
College  at  Ames"  was  a  delegate,  as  were  Mr.  Jacob  Butler, 
Mr.  John  ]Mahin  and  J\Ir.  Henrv  O'Connor.  The  meeting  dis- 
cussed  at  some  length  methods  for  "more  effective  organiza- 
tion"' in  conducting  the  campaign.  A  committee  Avas  ap- 
pointed, consisting  of  L.  H.  Washburn,  Jerome  Carskadden 
and  Hugh  J.  Campbell.  The  minutes  subsequently  report 
that  "on  motion  of  Hugh  J.  Campbell,  Esq.,  the  work  entitled 
'Helper's  Impending  Crisis'  is  recommended  by  this  com- 
mittee as  a  book  worthy  of  an  extensive  circulation  in  this 
county."     Whereupon  the  convention  adjourned. 

The  recommendation  of  Helper's  book  made  Mr.  D.  S.  Biles, 
editor  of  The  Democratic  Enquirer  of  Muscatine,  fulminate 
mightily.  The  resolution  of  the  convention,  together  with 
sundry  extracts  of  striking  passages  from  the  Impending 
Crisis  were  reprinted  by  him,  under  the  caption  in  bold  black 
type  "The  Republican  Platform."  He  reproduced  a  half 
column  or  more  thereof  in  nearly  everj-  issue  from  Jan.  12 
to  Feb.  23.  He  made  the  action  of  the  Republicans  of  Mus- 
catine notorious  and  aroused  no  little  public  interest,  for  a 
special  correspondent  of  TJie  New  Yoi'k  Herald,  then  travel - 


■ 'Gue,  History  of  loiva,  IV.  55.     His  chief  books  were  7'he  War  Powers 
of  the  President  and  Monopolies  and  the  People, 
-lb.,   IV,    94,    95. 


THE  REPUBLICAN  PRELIMINARIES  OF  1860  139 

ing  in  the  Northwest,  devoted  considerable  space  to  the  fact 
as  indicative  of  the  overwhelming  abolition  sentiment  among 
the  Republicans  of  Iowa ;  he  declared  it  to  be  the  first  public 
endoreement  of  the  book  anywhere  in  the  North. ^ 

(d)     Senator   Harlan's   Confidential    Advices. 

The  public  utterances  of  political  leaders  and  their  confiden- 
tial expressions  inter  se  are  not  always  coincident.  Such  di- 
vergences as  we  may  discern  arc  seldom  due  to  moral  delin- 
quency but  to  the  fact  that  in  public,  politicians  assert  what 
they  hope  for  in  the  large,  and  are  striving  to  bring  to  pass, 
or  express  Avhat  they  deem  most  prudent  and  effective  for 
their  purposes.  In  the  confidences  of  personal  interviews  or 
correspondence,  however,  they  exhibit  their  hopes  and  fears, 
their  desires  and  plans,  frankly  and  freely — or  at  least  more 
so.  Subjects  as  to  which  they  maintain  a  severe  silence  in 
their  editorial  columns  or  on  the  platform,  they  deal  with 
plumply  within  the  family  circle.  Thus  it  was  in  the  prelimi- 
naries of  the  presidential  campaign  in  1860  in  Iowa.  The 
major  currents  of  opinion  among  Republicans  on  both  issues 
and  candidates  were  not  clearly  discernable  on  the  surface, 
when  the  party  chiefs  convened  at  Des  Moines  to  make  their 
first  decision  as  to  their  course  in  the  contest.  The  expressions 
of  editors  were  rare  and  in  general  terms  when  ventured ;  but 
the  conclusion  does  not  follow  that  pajfty  chiefs  and  local 
leaders  were  not  keenly  interested  and  alive  to  the  momentous 
matters  then  in  the  balances. 

In  state  politics  there  are,  as  already-  intimated,  two  chief 
centers  that  receive  the  voluminous  currents  of  party  advices. 
The  substance  of  advices,  information  and  appeals,  return  in 
cautious  inquiry  and  deft  suggestion,  sometimes  in  direct  and 
urgent  decisions.  These  centers  are  the  State's  national  sena- 
tors. These  party  chiefs  correlate  local  and  national  opinion. 
Their  views  are  the  issue  of  currents  constantly  flowing  into 
Washington  from  their  constituents,  modified  by  their  appre- 
ciation of  advices  received   from  their  associates  in  AVash- 


1^.    y.   Herald,   February    19,    1860.        The   comments   referred   to   were 
quoted    by    the   writer,    Anxals.   VTTI,    194. 


140  IOWA  AND   ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

ington  from  other  states.  AVe  have  already  s6en  the  letter  of 
Senator  Grimes  to  Governor-elect  Kirkwood,  written  Decem- 
ber 26,  1859.  As  Iowa's  junior  Senator  was  in  constant  cor- 
respondence with  his  constituents  his  advice  was  doubtless  in 
part  a  reflection  of  his  local  advices.  Unfortunately  the  con- 
tents of  his  letter  files  seem  to  be  irrecoverably  lost.^  Senator 
Harlan's  correspondence,  however,  has  been  preserved  and 
it  affords  us  interesting  evidence  of  the  drifts  and  shifts  of 
local  opinion  in  Iowa  during  the  period  here  under  consider- 
ation. Sundry  portions  of  the  correspondence  are  given  in 
what  follows. 

Col.  Alvin  Saimders  of  Mt.  Pleasant  was  Senator  Harlan's 
fidiis  Achates  and  his  major-general  in  his  senatorial  cam- 
paigns. From  Springfield,  111.,  once  his  home-  where  he  was 
^-isiting  he  wrote  (Nov.  8),  relative  to  the  presidential  con- 
test approaching:  "If  we  succeed  then  we  are  all  0.  K..  but 
if  we  fail  then  our  cake  is  dough  for  at  least  a  long  time." 
James  F.  Wilson  of  Fairfield  Avi-ote  (Dec.  19),  "The  threats 
of  disunion  now  so  boldly  made  sit  heavily  on  the  Democracy 
of  the  Northwest.  .  .  .  The  cr\'  raised  over  Helper's  book 
is  doing  more  towards  its  circulation  than  all  the  Eepublican 
committees  could  have  done  in  j'ears.  Evervbody  wants  to 
read  its  awful  contents. ' '  Dr.  Charles  S.  Clarke,  a  prominent 
physician  of  Fairfield  (Dec.  22)  :  .  .  .  "I  am  as  you  well 
know  an  earnest  Republican.  I  would  not  interfere  with 
slavery  in  the  states.  I  never  did  sympathize  or  act  with  the 
Abolition  party  and  yet  down  South  they  would  call  me  an 
Abolitionist.^  I  know  the  Republican  leaders  of  Iowa  and 
elsewhere  and  I  know  that  they  are  Union  Republicans  and 
are  opposed  to  disunion  Democrats  and  Abolitionists.  Repub- 
licans in  Iowa  all  condemn  Brown's  rash  act  but  they  do  ad- 
mire his  bravery,  truthfulness  and  fidelity  to  what  he  con- 
scientiouslv  deemed  right."* 


^Senator  Grimes'  correspondence  with  the  exception  of  a  few  letters 
was  destroyed  by  the  Executor  of  his  estate  by  direction  of  Mrs.  Grimes. — 
Miss   Mary   D.   Xealley  to    the  writer,    Sept.    20,    1909. 

^Colonel  Saunder's  brother,  Pressley,  was  a  member  of  Abraham  Lin- 
coln's regiment  in  the  Black  Hawk  War. 

=Dr.  Clarke  lived  for  some  time  in  Kentucky. 

^n  a  letter  to  Senator  H..  October  30th,  Dr.  Clarke  said:  "No  g-ood 
citizen  justifies  Brown,  no  good  citizen  excuses  Pierce,  Buchanan  &  Co.  On 
them  this  evil   rests." 


THE  REPUBLICAN  PRELIMINARIES  OF  1860  141 

Not  all  of  Senator  Harlan 's  correspondents  discussed  affairs 
at  large ;  some  wished  to  promote  the  general  welfare  by  his 
advancement;  thus  Mr.  J.  B.  Young,  a  leading  attorney  of 
Marion,  in  Linn  county,  expressed  a  hope  (Dec.  27)  "I  would 
rejoice  to  see  my  old  friend  .  .  .  the  candidate  for  Vice- 
President,''  a  wish  that  was  later  declared  publicly  by  an- 
other friend  in  an  ad.joiuing  county. 

Another  attorney,  Mr.  J.  F.  Bro^^^n  of  Eldora  in  Hardin 
county,  communicated  his  views  upon  the  presidential  ques- 
tion (Dec.  28)  :  "I  hope  that  W.  H.  Seward  will  be  nomi- 
nated if  he  can  he  elected.  He  above  all  others  is  my  Man. ' ' 
The  Secretary  of  State,  Mr.  Elijah  Sells,  notified  him  (Dec. 
29)  that  the  "Third  House"  of  the  General  Assembly  and  the 
Chicago.  Iowa  and  Nebraska  Railroad  Company  were  "con- 
spiring" to  secure  a  diversion  of  the  land  grant  to  the  Iowa 
Central  Air  line  to  a  new  company.  Mr.  John  "W.  Eankin, 
the  state  senator  from  Lee  county,  the  law  partner  of  Samuel 
F.  Miller,  wrote  him  (Jan.  14,  1860)  :  "Give  my  best  wishes 
to  Gov.  Grimes,  also  to  Gen.  Cameron,  the  next  President  of 
the  United  States.  This  is  no  prophecy,  but  the  truth  ahead 
of  time."  On  the  same  date  Mr.  Robert  Gower  of  Gower's 
Ferry,  in  Cedar  county,  gave  him  a  report  of  local  opinion 
on  the  presidential  succession  and  expressed  his  own  views  as 
to  a  desirable  nominee : 

People  are  beginning  to  discuss  the  subject  of  our  next  President. 
I  expect  our  State  by  their  convention  on  the  18th  inst.  will  decide 
their  preference  for  Republican  nominee.  I  have  heard  urged  by  dele- 
gates to  that  convention,  General  Cameron,  General  Fessenden  and 
Judge  McLean.  Before  the  13th  of  .June  I  would  be  glad  of  your 
choice. 

The  expressions  which  succeed  are  taken  from  two  letters 
written  in  Des  Moines  on  the  eve  of  the  state  convention,  by 
delegates  thereto.  Both  writers  had  state  wide  reputations 
and  influence.  The  first  was  a  brilliant  orator  and  effective 
campaigner.  The  second  was  an  experienced  party  worker, 
alert  and  shrewd,  who  had  been  a  close  observer  of  political 
conditions  in  southern  sections  of  the  State  from  the  time  Iowa 


142  IOWA  AND   ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

was  a  part  of  the  territory  of  Wisconsin.  Mr.  Henry  O'Con- 
nor of  Muscatine,  on  January  15th  wrote  Senator  Harlan  of 
presidential  politics  as  follows : 

.  .  .  Our  convention  which  meets  next  Wednesday  will  be 
largely  attended  and  we  anticipate  a  good  time.  Everybody  is  a 
candidate  for  delegate  to  the  Chicago  Convention  so  that  we  will 
be  at  no  loss  for  timber.  I  am  entirely  indifferent  providing  they 
will  only  send  a  delegation  that  will  comport  with  the  dignified  and 
decided  Republican  character  of  Iowa.  I  think  Iowa  may  be  set 
down  now  as  decidedly  Republican  in  sentiment  and  action.  There 
is  a  good  deal  of  talk  and  speculation  about  Presidential  candidates, 
one  element  which  seems  to  be  entering  into  this  coming  Presiden- 
tial contest  already,  I  never  liked  and  like  it  now  less  than  ever, 
that  is  the  availability  element.  It's  a  sheer  humbug.  We  as  a 
party  have  strength  enough  if  we  only  have  integrity,  we  ca,n  and 
ought  to  select  our  best  man,  the  representative  man  of  our  party. 
I  have  but  one  candidate  myself,  although  I  expect  to  vote  and 
work  for  whoever  is  nominated.  If  my  vote  could  make  a  presi- 
dent today  it  would  be  given  to  Wm.  H.  Seward  in  preference  to 
any  man  now  living.  I  believe  he  can  be — I  know  he  ought  to  be 
President. 

The  next  day  (Jan.  16)  Mr.  Hawkins  Taylor  of  Keokuk 
communicated  his  observations  on  the  same  subject: 

.  .  .  Our  State  Convention  comes  off  Wednesday  for  the  ap- 
pointment of  delegates  to  the  Chicago  Convention.  There  is  a  good 
many  candidates  for  delegates.  Who  will  be  appointed  it  is  hard 
to  tell  now.  I  am  in  favor  of  the  appointment  of  two  to  each  Judi- 
cial district  and  then  let  them  cast  the  vote  the  state  is  entitled 
to  which  ought  to  be  16  or  18.  There  is  no  disposition  to  instruct 
our  delegates,  still  I  think  that  the  general  feeling  is  in  favor  of 
Cameron  and  Lincoln  or  Lincoln  and  Grow.  It  is  universally  con- 
ceded that  Pennsylvania  must  be  carried  and  the  question  is  who 
can  do  it.  I  have  never  heard  anyone  say  that  they  believed  that 
Seward  or  Chase  could.  And  I  am  well  satisfied  that  neither  of 
them  can  carry  Iowa  against  Douglas  or  any  popular  Northern 
Doughface.  I  have  spent  the  fall  and  winter  buying  hogs  in  the  two 
Southern  Tier  of  counties  west  of  the  Des  Moines  and  I  tell  you 
there  is  no  Seward  or  CJiase  men  there.  The  Republicans  of  that  sec- 
tion are  more  like  the  Opposition  of  Missouri. 

I  confess  I  am  not  over  sanguine  of  success  next  fall.  We  have 
men  that  can  be  elected  Jyut  we  can  not  elect  anybody.  You  must 
recollect  that  the  mass  of  the  voters  don't  read  political  documents 
and   consequently   do   not   get  excited   and   have  great  aversion   to 


THE  REPUBLICAN  PRELIMINARIES  OF  1860  U:? 

voting  for  any  man  ....  I  should  like  to  hear  your  views  on 
the  subject  of  the  next  Presidential  Candidate.  How  does  Forney 
feel?    Could  he  be  got  to  support  Seward  or  Chase? 

Various  facts  in  the  foregoing  may  well  be  noted  before 
passing  on.     Senator  Harlan's  correspondents  declare  John 
Brown's  raid  into  Virginia  reprehensible,  even  though  they 
may  express  some  sympathy  with  the  man's  trials  or  admira- 
tion of  his  character.     Again  of  like  import,  Abolitionism  is 
anathema.    Those  who  mention  the  presidential  succession  fall 
into  two  classes :  the  friends  of  particular  candidates  and  the 
advocates  of  no  particular  candidate,  save  the  man  who  can 
poll  the  most  votes  for  the  party's  cause.     Those  who  urge 
Grov.  Seward,  while  earnest  in  their  admiration  of  the  man, 
nevertheless  feel  doubts  as  to  his  chances  of  winning  in  the 
election.    Doing  and  dying  with  a  favorite  champion  may  be 
heroic ;  but  if  defeat  is  the  result  your  cake  will  become  dough. 
The  cause  of  their  hesitation  was  the  existence  of  oldtime  and 
obstreperous  prejudices  in  the  minds  of  the  southern  folk  in 
the  State,  who  hated  abolitionists  with  the  same  vigor  that  they 
hated  slavery  and  would  have  none  of  either.     Further,  Mr. 
Taylor  refers  to  Abraham  Lincoln  as  a  definite  candidate,  one 
who  is  to  be  reckoned  with,  precisely  as  Governors  Chase  or 
Seward,  with  an  assurance  that  indicates  that  he  did  not  deem 
the  consideration  of  the  Illinoisan  unfamiliar  to  his  party 
chief  at  Washington.    Senator  Harlan's  contingent  candidacy 
for  national  honors  is  suggested  by  two  correspondents — a 
suggestion  the  realization  of  which  was  by  no  means  violently 
improbable.    Five  of  the  correspondents  just  cited  were  chosen 
at  the  state  convention,  January  18th,  to  represent  the  Repub- 
licans of  Iowa  at  the  national  convention  at  Chicago :  Messrs, 
Brown  of  Eldora,  O'Connor  of  Muscatine,  Rankin  of  Keokuk, 
Saunders  of  Mt.  Pleasant,  and  Wilson  of  Fairfield. 


144  IOWA  AND  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 


THE  REPUBLICAN  STATE  CONVENTION 
DES  MOINES,  JANUARY  18,  1860. 

At  two  o'clock,  Wednesday  afternoon.  January  18,  1860,  the 
delegates  to  the  Republican  state  convention  assembled  at  Sher- 
man's  Hall,  Third  Street  and  Court  Avenue,  Des  Moines. 
All  contemporary  accounts  of  the  convention  concur  in  de- 
claring it  the  largest  in  point  of  numbers  held  in  the  State 
up  to  that  time  by  the  Republican  party  or  by  any  other  party. 
Both  houses  of  the  Legislature  had  adjourned,  as  many  of  its 
members  were  accredited  delegates.  General  public  interest 
in  the  work  of  the  convention  was  so  great  that  Sherman's 
Hall  was  "full  to  overflowing."  For  the  first  time  in  the 
history  of  the  Republican  party  of  Iowa  its  delegates  had  as- 
sembled for  the  sole  purpose  of  selecting  delegates  to  a 
national  convention  of  the  party. 

(a)   The  PreUminaries  of  Organization. 

The  convention  was  called  to  order  by  Mr.  John  A.  Kasson, 
chairman  of  the  state  central  committee.  On  behalf  of  the 
committee  Mr.  Kasson  nominated  for  temporary  chairman. 
Mr.  Ed  Wright  of  Cedar  county — a  selection  at  once  fitting 
and  significant.  He  had  been  sent  to  the  lower  house  of  the 
General  Assembly  in  1856  and  soon  achieved  distinction  as  a 
master  of  the  technicalities  of  parliamentary  procedure.  Mr. 
Wright's  home  was  near  Springdale.  John  Bro^vn's  rendezvous 
in  eastern  Iowa  previous  to  his  raid  on  Harper's  Ferry.  He 
was  a  Quaker  or  Friend  in  religious  belief.  Like  most,  if  not 
all,  Friends,  he  was  an  Abolitionist  in  fact  as  well  as  in  the- 
ory, being  a  promoter  of  the  Underground  Railway.^  For 
secretary  of  the  convention  pro  tern,  Mr.  Geo.  A.  Hawley,  a 
lawA^er  of  Leon.  Decatur  county,  then  quite  prominent  in  the 


THE  REPUBLICAN  PRELIMINARIES  OF  1860  145 

party's  councils  in  Southern  Iowa,  was  nominated.  Both 
nominations  were  confirmed  without  opposition.-  In  these 
days  INIr.  "Wright  would  have  instructed  or  entertained  or  ha- 
rassed the  delegates  with  a  speech,  essaying  to  sound  "key- 
notes" for  the  ensuing  campaign,  but  the  reports  indicate 
nothing  of  the  sort.  The  work  of  organization  proceeded  at 
once. 

In  constituting  the  committees  on  credentials  and  on  per- 
manent organization,  eleven  members  Avere  named,  one  from 
each  of  the  judicial  districts  of  the  State.  Among  the  mem- 
bers of  the  committee  on  credentials  were  Col.  Alvin  Saunders 
of  Mi.  Pleasant,  and  Senator  M.  L.  McPherson  of  Winterset ; 
and  among  the  committee  on  permanent  organization  were  Dr. 
J.  C.  Walker  of  Ft.  Madison,  John  Edwards  of  Chariton, 
Samuel  ]\Ierrill  of  McGregor,  and  W.  P.  Hepburn  of  Marshall- 
town — delegates  who  either  participated  in  the  convention  at 
Chicago,  or  Avho  later  had  distinguished  careers  in  the  State. 

The  committee  on  credentials  found  that  its  task  of  can- 
vassing the  certificates  of  the  delegates  or  their  proxies,  even 
though  there  were  no  contesting  delegations,  was  not  to  be 
done  in  a  few  minutes ;  and  two  hours  or  more  were  consumed 
before  they  completed  their  work.  The  convention  meanwhile, 
being  indisposed  to  adjourn,  indulged  in  hilarity  and  speeches 
ex  tempore.  Sundry  leaders  or  orators  were  called  upon  by 
their  admirers  or  henchmen  —  Messrs.  Wm.  Penn  Clarke, 
James  F.  Wilson,  Jacob  Butler,  John  Edwards,  C.  C.  Nourse, 
J.  B.  Grinnell,  John  A.  Kasson,  Henry  O'Connor  and  others 
— some  responding,  some  refusing.  One  of  the  speakers  and 
the  incidents  of  his  speech  were  out  of  the  ordinary  and  illus- 
trate in  an  interesting  fashion  some  of  the  phases  of  the  con- 
vention. 

The  big  chiefs,  or  those  who  would  venture,  had  spoken ;  and 
intermittent  noise  and  confusion  prevailed.    There  was  a  mo- 


I 


^Charles  Aldrich  in  The  Annals  of  Iowa  (3rd  Series)  II,  376-386,  article 
on  "General  Ed  Wright." 

-The  Daily  State  Register,  Jan.  19,  1860.  In  what  follows  respecting 
the  convention  the  account  of  the  proceedings  in  the  Register,  Jan.  19  and 
20,  is  taken  unless  otherwise  stated. 

10 


U'5  IOWA  AND   ABRAHAINI   LINCOLN 

ment's  lull  and  some  one  (the  writer  suspects  the  late  Charles 
Aldrich)  called,  "Johns!"  Forthwith  a  striking  figure  arose 
in  the  fore  left  comer  of  the  hall  and  started  toward  the  plat- 
form. The  convention  was  silent  with  astonishment  for  an 
instant,  and  then  derisive  laughter  and  shouts  burst  forth. 
The  prospective  speaker  was  of  medium  height,  solidly  built, 
vigorous  of  mien  and  tread,  with  a  fine  head  firmly  set  on 
sturdy  shoulders.  He  had  seen  sixty  winters.  Thin  grey  hair 
fell  in  straggling  locks  on  his  shoulders  and  a  shaggy,  unkempt 
beard  covered  his  face  and  throat.  His  garb  consisted  of  blue 
"home-made"  jeans  trousers  and  blouse  that  had  done  yeoman 
service.  The  artistic  climax  of  the  stranger's  habiliments  was 
his  headgear.  It  consisted  of  a  knit  cap  of  blue  and  white 
yarn  that  "ran  up  to  a  peak,"  whence  a  tassel  flared  and 
flirted  jaimtily  with  the  motion  of  body  and  head. 

This  picturesque  figure  advanced  rapidly  to  the  platform, 
indifferent  to  the  uproar  which  his  appearance  produced,  and 
faced  the  convention.  He  was  as  stalwart  as  a  Sioux.  His 
weatherbeaten  features  were  stern  and  impassive.  His  keen 
grej^-blue  eyes  swept  the  crowd  with  a  haughty  glance.  One 
chronicler,  who  witnessed  the  sceiae,  states  that  his  manner 
strongly  suggested  "Brown  of  Ossawatomie.",  He  made  no 
effort  to  speak,  for  the  shouts  increased  as  the  assembly  got  a 
full  view.  He  was  a  veritable  backwoodsman  and  a  "sight" 
indeed.  Chairman  Wright  hammered  the  table  lustily  to  se- 
cure order  but  in  vain.  Not  knoAving  the  stranger's  name  and 
catching  the  eye  of  Mr.  Charles  Aldrich,  seated  near  the  edge 
of  the  platform,  Mr.  AVright  stepped  over  to  him  and  asked 
who  "the  old  chap"  was.  "Why,"  came  the  reply,  "that  is 
Father  John  Johns  of  AVebster  county,  and  if  you'll  get  this 
infernal  mob  still  enough  to  hear  him,  he'll  give  them  a  good 
speech ! " 

The  self-possession,  perfect  poise  and  dignity  of  the 
stranger,  soon  brought  the  delegates  back  to  a  proper  sense  of 
decorum,  and  Chairman  Wright  introduced  him.  He  was  a 
hunter  and  trapper  and  Avithal  an  itinerant  Baptist  preacher 


THE  REPUBLICAN  PRELIMINARIES  OF  1860  147 

of  the  "Free  Will"  persuasion,  who  lived  on  Skillet  creek, 
near  Border  Plains,  in  south  central  "Webster  county.  He  was 
a  Kentuckian  by  birth  and  upbringing  and  an  Abolitionist  of 
the  militant  type — a  fact  that  made  his  emigration  from  his 
native  heath  expedient,  if  not  imperative.  The  character  and 
substance  of  his  speech  can  be  but  partially  indicated.  He 
certainly  fulfilled  Mr.  Aldrich's  prediction,  as  all  accounts 
refer  to  his  effort  with  decided  approval. 

He  mastered  his  audience  at  once.  In  manner  he  was 
serious,  almost  solemn  in  delivery.  His  language  was  concise, 
unadorned,  pointed.  Barbed  and  nipping  words  seem  to  have 
frequently  expressed  his  thoughts  with  telling  effect.  The 
righteousness  of  the  Republican  cause  and  the  party's  great 
opportunity,  the  iniquities  of  Slavery  and  the  aggressions  of 
the  Slavocrats  in  Kansas,  in  the  courts  and  at  Washington, 
the  blunders  and  corruption  of  "  Buck-Hannan 's  "  administra- 
tion, were  the  main  considerations  of  his  speech.  Many  of 
his  sharp  thrusts  elicited  rounds  of  applause. 

The  impression  made  by  the  speaker  was  somewhat  complex 
and  contradictory.  Mr.  G.  H.  Jerome,  editor  of  The  Iowa 
City  BepuNican,  informs  his  readers  that  his  speech  con- 
tained some  of  ' '  the  wittiest  and  quaintest  remarks  that  it  has 
ever  been  my  fortune  to  hear  in  any  convention.  He  repeat- 
edly brought  down  the  house. '  '^  On  the  other  hand  Mr.  John 
Mahin  writes  his  readers  that  the  stranger  "seemed  himself, 


177(6  loiva  City  Repuhlican,  Jan.  25,  1860.  Correspondence  dated  Des 
Moines,   Jan.    18. 

The  account  of  John  Johns  and  his  speech  is  based  upon  correspondence 
and  interviews  of  the  writer  with  Hon.  Levi  S.  Coffin  of  Fort  Dodge,  Judge 
C.  C.  Nourse,  and  W.  S.  Moore  of  Des  Moines,  Charles  Aldrich,  late  Curator 
of  the  Historical  Department  of  Iowa,  and  Professor  D.  R.  Dungan  of 
Drake  University,  a  nephew  of  John  Johns ;  also  upon  the  recollections  of 
Charles  Aldrich,  published  in  July,  1892,  entitled  "Recollections  of  Rev. 
John  Johns  of  Webster  County,"  Iowa  Historical  Record,  VIII,  321-325  ; 
and  W.  S.  Moore's  "A  Notable  Convention,"  Iowa  State  Register,  September 
4,  1892,  p.  10. 

The  reader  may  study  the  features  of  John  Johns  in  a  reproduction  of 
an  old  "tin  type,"  taken  two  or  three  years  after  the  convention,  in  a 
group  of  "Some  of  Iowa's  Delegates-at-Large"  to  the  Chicago  Conven- 
tion,  opposite   page   186   of  Volume  VIII  of  The  Annals. 


14S  IOWA  AND   ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

however,  to  be  too  earnest  and  solemn  in  his  opposition  to 
slavery  to  treat  things  jocularly,  and  scarcely  indulged  in  a 
smile  while  on  the  stage. ^ 

The  speech  of  John  Johns  was  the  one  dramatic  episode  of 
the  convention.  The  subsequent  action  of  the  delegates  indi- 
cates conclusively  its  striking  effect.  In  the  various  reports 
of  the  proceedings  of  the  convention  in  the  press  of  the  State 
his  speech  was  the  one  thing  especially  mentioned.- 

Between  four  and  five  o'clock  the  committee  on  credentials 
reported.  According  to  the  only  published  list  of  the  counties 
represented,  there  were  406  delegates  or  their  proxies  present, 
representing  78  out  of  the  99  counties  of  the  State.  Had  all  of 
the  counties  sent  their  quota  of  delegates  there  would  have 
been  466  present.  In  view  of  the  modes  and  conditions  of 
travel  and  the  time  of  the  year  the  representation  was  very 
large.  Iowa  City  was  the  western  terminus  of  the  only  rail- 
road of  consequence  in  the  State.  Steamboats  theoretically  and 
occasionally  navigated  the  Des  Moines  river  but  transit  there- 
on, especially  in  the  tortuous  courses  of  the  upper  fifty  miles, 
was  exceedingly  uncertain.  Stage  coaches  were  the  main  pub- 
lic carriers  and  the  condition  of  roads  in  country  and  town 
in  Iowa  in  the  middle  of  January  in  1860  may  easily  be 
imagined.  The  public  interest  and  personal  zeal  of  partizans 
that  brought  so  many  delegates  together  at  such  a  time  under 
such  conditions  must  have  been  very  pronounced. 

The  counties  not  represented  were  Adair,  Adams,  Buena 
Vista,  Calhoun,  Cerro  Gordo,  Cherokee,  Clay,  Dickinson,  Em- 
met, Harrison,  Hancock,  Ida,  Jones,  Montgomery,  Monona, 
Palo  Alto,  Pocahontas,  Sac,  Shelby,  Union  and  Winnebago. 
For  the  most  part  the  counties  were  near  the  borders  of  the 
State.  Their  quota  of  delegates,  however,  amounted  all  told 
to  only  34.  Twenty-two  of  the  counties  represented  failed  to 
send  their  entire  quota,  the  number  thus  deficient  being  36. 


^The  Daily  Muscatine  Journal,  Jan.   23,   1860. 

-The  Burlington  Haiok-Eye,  Jan.  23  ;  The  Iowa  City  Republican.  Jan.  25; 
The  Muscatine  Journal,  Jan.  23  ;  The  Pella  Gazette,  Jan.  25  ;  The  OsTca- 
loosa  Herald  Quoted  in  the  Hamilton  Freeman,  Feb.  4,  1860. 


THE  REPUBLICAN  PRELIMINARIES  OF  1860  Ut) 

(b)   The  Character  of  the  County  Delegations. 

The  delegates  reported  present  represented  the  party  and 
the  State  excellently  both  as  regards  the  commonalty  and  the 
yeomanry  as  well  as  the  leaders.  Some  of  the  State 's  best  char- 
acter and  largest  caliber  were  found  among  them- — men  who 
had  been  foremost  in  public  affairs  or  who  then  were  pressing 
rapidly  to  the  front  and  were  later  to  have  distinguished  ca- 
reers in  the  State  and  the  nation.  It  is  so  common  in  popular 
prints  and  among  academic  writers  and  those  who  class 
themselves  with  the  elite,  literary  and  social,  to  refer  con- 
temptuously to  ordinary  party  conclaves,  that  brief  mention  of 
the  careers  of  some  of  the  delegates  assembled  in  Sherman's 
Hall  that  afternoon  may  be  worth  while.  A  few  dele- 
gates reported  as  present  appear  not  to  have  attended.  It  is 
probable  that  they  were  selected  by  local  caucuses  or  county 
conventions  and  were  so  reported  to  the  committee  on  creden- 
tials, but  even  if  not  present  their  selection  indicates  the 
wishes  of  the  local  constituency. 

A  poll  of  the  delegates  with  respect  to  their  nativity  and 
ages,  their  states  of  residence  prior  to  coming  to  Iowa  and 
years  of  their  residence  in  the  State  previous  to  the  conven- 
tion, their  education,  general  and  technical,  their  occupations 
and  professions,  their  religious  creeds  and  church  prefer- 
ences, their  party  affiliations  prior  to  joining  the  Republican 
party,  their  public  honors  and  services  before  and  after  the 
convention,  would  be  both  interesting  and  instructive,  but  the 
writer  does  not  possess  complete  data. 

Mr.  Wm.  Penn  Clarke  of  Johnson  county  is  credited  with 
being  one  of  the  secretaries  of  the  Pittsburg  convention,  Feb- 
ruary 22,  1856,  which  has  substantial  claims  as  the  first  Re- 
publican national  convention.  Mr.  Andrew  J.  Stevens  of 
Polk  county  was  selected  by  that  convention  as  the  member  of 
the  national  committee  for  Iowa  and  joined  in  the  call  of 
March  29,  addressed  ''To  the  People  of  the  United  States" 
urging  all  "without  regard  to  past  political  differences  or  di- 
visions" to  send  delegates  to  a  convention  in  Philadelphia 


loO  IOWA  AND  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

Juue  17,  1856.    ]\Ir.  Stevens  was  the  first  chairman  of  the  Re- 
publican state  central  committee  in  Iowa. 

Nineteen  counties  sent  31  delegates  who  had  attended  as 
delegates  at  Iowa  Cit}^  February  22,  1856,  when  the  Repub- 
lican party  was  organized  in  Iowa.  They  were  John  Shane 
and  J.  C.  Traer  of  Benton  county,  J.  A.  Chapline,  R.  I. 
Thomas  and  "\V.  W.  Hamilton  of  Dubuque,  AVells  Spicer  and 
Ed  AVright  of  Cedar,  J.  W.  Sherman  of  Dallas,  Fitz  Heniy 
Warren  of  Des  Moines,  Jackson  Orr  of  Greene,  J.  F.  Brown 
of  Hardin.  S.  McFarland  of  Henry,  J.  W.  Jenkins  of  Jackson, 
R.  Gaines  and  J.  F.  Wilson  of  Jefferson.  E.  and  R.  Clark  of 
Johnson.  G.  D.  AVoodin  of  Keokuk,  H.  Taylor  of  Lee,  H.  C. 
Angle  of  Linn,  Wm.  M.  Stone  of  Marion,  Jacob  Butler,  S. 
Foster.  John  Mahin  and  Henry  O'Connor  of  Muscatine,  J.  B. 
Grinnell  of  Poweshiek,  B.  F.  Gne,  J.  C.  Quinn  and  A.  San- 
ders of  Scott,  and  J.  AV.  Caldwell  and  J.-W.  Norris  of  Wap- 
ello. Air.  J.  B.  Grinnell  is  credited  with  the  authorship  of  the 
"Addre.ss"  of  the  convention  to  the  people  of  Iowa.' 

Six  of  the  delegates  had  been  chosen  by  the  first  state  con- 
vention in  1856  as  delegates  or  alternates  to  represent  the 
party  at  the  first  national  Republican  convention  at  Philadel- 
phia, in  June  of  that  year:  Messrs.  F.  H.  Warren  of  Des 
Moines  county  and  J.  W.  Caldwell  of  Wapello  as  delegates 
and  ^Messrs.  Jacob  Butler.  Thomas  Drummond.  J.  W.  Jenkins 
and  Daniel  Anderson,  alternates.  Three  of  those  named  could 
not  attend  and  Messrs.  J.  AT.  Shennan  of  Dallas  county,  R.  L. 
B.  Clarke  of  Henry,  and  A.  J.  Stevens  of  Polk  exercised  their 
proxies  at  Philadelphia. 

Mr.  G.  AI.  Swan  of  AA^arren  county  is  credited  with  the  au- 
thorship of  the  call  that  caused  the  first  meeting  in  Columbus. 
Ohio,  Avhence  resulted  the  organization  of  the-  Republican 
party  in  Ohio.-  and  Air.  AA^m.  B.  Allison  of  Dubuque  Avas 
the  secretary  of  that  state  convention  when  it  was  organized.^ 
Six  of  the  delegates  had  been  members  of  the  Constitutional 
Convention  of   1857  that   had  framed  the   supreme  law   of 

'List   of   Delegates   compiled   by   Mr.    Louis   Pelzer   in    Iowa  Journal   of 
History  and  Politics.  IV,  521-525. 

-History  of   Warren    County    (1S79)    p.   502. 
'John  Sherman's  Recollections,  p.  76. 


THE  REPUBLICAN  PRELIMINARIES  OF  1860  ir,l 

Iowa  under  which  the  people  have  smce  continued  to  live. 
Messrs.  AYm.  Penu  Clarke  of  Johnson  county,  R.  L.  B.  Clarke 
of  Henry,  John  Edwards  of  Lucas,  J.  C.  Traer  of  Tama,  Wm. 
A.  Warren  of  Jackson,  and  James  F.  Wilson  of  Jefferson. 
Two  other  delegates,  Alvin  Saunders  of  Henry  and  S.  Goodrell 
of  Polk  county  (then  of  ]\Iuscatine  county)  had  been  members 
of  the  Constitutional  Convention  of  1846,  which  framed  the 
first  constitution  for  the  State ;  and  Judge  Ralph  P.  Lowe  had 
been  a  delegate  to  the  Constitutional  Convention  of  1844,  that 
first  undertook  to  construct  a  constitution  for  the  people. 

Fifty-six  delegates  hjid  been,  and  of  the  number  47  then 
were  and  32  later  became  members  of  the  House  of  Represen- 
tatives of  the  General  Assembly  of  Iowa.  Thirty-six  had  been 
and  22  then  were  members  of  the  state  Seriate  and  26  there- 
after became  members  of  that  body.  Two  delegates,  Samuel 
McFarlaud  of  Henry  county  had  been  and  John  Edwards  of 
Lucas  then  was  the  speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives; 
and  two  others,  Rush  Clark  of  Johnson  and  Jacob  Butler  of 
Muscatine  county  were  later  to  become  speaker.  Messrs.  W. 
W.  Hamilton  of  Dubuque  county  and  Oran  Faville  had  been 
presidents  of  the  Senate  and  Nicholas  J.  Rusch  of  Scott  county 
then  was;  and  Enoch  W.  Eastman  of  Hardin,  B.  F.  Que  of 
Scott  and  Frank'  T.  Campbell  of  Jasper  county  were  there- 
after to  be  elected  lieutenant  governor  of  the  State,  and  there- 
by became  presidents  of  the  Senate.  Three  had  had  experience 
in  the  legislatures  of  older  eastern  states ;  Messrs.  Jesse  Bowen 
of  Johnson  and  John  Edwards  of  Lucas  in  Indiana,  and 
Samuel  ]\Ierrill  of  Cla>i;on  in  the  legislature  of  New  Hamp- 
shire. 

There  were  a  number  who  had  held,  were  then  holding 
or  were  destined  to  hold  prominent  positions  in  the  state  gov- 
ernment. Dr.  Jesse  Bowen  of  Johnson  county  was  adjutant 
general  of  the  militia.  Mr.  M.  L.  Morris,  also  of  Johnson 
county,  had  been,  and  Mr.  George  W.  Bemis  of  Buchanan  was 
to  become  treasurer  of  state.  ]\Iessrs.  Andrew  J.  Stevens  of 
Polk,  John  Pattee  of  Bremer  had  held,  and  Jonathan  W.  Cat- 
tell  of  Cedar  was  holding  the  office  of  auditor  of  state.  W.  A. 
Warren  of  Jackson  was  thp  candidate  of  the  Whig  party  in 


l,-j2  IOWA  AND   ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

1848  for  that  office.  Thomas  H.  Benton,  Jr.,  of  Pottawatta- 
mie had  been  superintendent  of  public  instruction  and  Mr. 
Oran  Faville  afterwards  held  the  office.  Mr.  Ed  Wright,  tke 
temporary  chairman  Avas  later  to  serve  the  people  as  secretary 
of  state  and  Messrs.  George  A.  Hawley  of  Decatur,  J.  W. 
Jenkins  of  Jackson,  ]\I.  L.  McPherson  of  Madison,  J.  W. 
Thompson  of  Scott  had  been  or  were  later  prominent  but  un- 
successful candidates  for  the  office. 

Ralph  P.  Lowe  of  Lee  had  been  Governor  of  Iowa,  retiring 
from  that  office  the  week  preceding  the  convention;  and 
Messrs.  Samuel  IMerrill  of  Clayton,  "Wm.  Larrabee  of  Fayette 
and  Wm.  M.  Stone  of  Marion  coimty,  later  became  Chief  Exe- 
cutive of  the  State.  ^lessrs.  J.  B.  Grinnell,  Henry  O'Connor, 
J.  B.  Weaver  and  Fitz  Henry  Warren  became  prominent  can- 
didates for  the  office. 

A  number  had  been,  or  later  became,  judges  of  the  district  or 
circuit  courts.  Thus  John  H.  Gray  of  Polk  county,  Ralph  P. 
Lowe  of  Lee,  Samuel  Murdock  of  Clayton,  John  W.  Rankin  of 
Lee,  Wm.  Smyth  of  Linn  and  W.  M.  Stone  of  IMarion  were 
judges  prior  to  the  convention.  ^Messrs.  M.  B.  Burdick  of  Win- 
neshiek county,  D.  D.  Chase  of  Hamilton,  H.  C.  Henderson  of 
Marshall,  Wm.  Loughridge  of  Mahaska.  C.  C.  Xourse  of  Polk, 
Geo.  W.  Ruddick  of  Bremer,  and  John  Shan^e  of  Benton  after- 
wards became  judges. 

There  were  present  eight  who  had  been  or  then  were 
"County  Kings,"  to-wit,  the  county  judges  who  under  the 
Code  of  1851  exercised  all  the  legislative,  executive  and  judi- 
cial functions  previously  exercised  by  the  county  commis- 
sioners :  G.  ^I.  Dean  of  Allamakee,  F.  B.  Doolittle  of  Delaware, 
Oran  Fa\alle  of  Mitchell,  P.  P.  Henderson  of  Warren,  Lewis 
H.  Smith  of  Kossuth,  Wells  Spicer  of  Cedar,  Wm.  Van 
0 'Linda  of  Plymouth,  and  J.  C.  Hagans  of  Ringgold  county. 

As  the  work  of  the  convention  was  not  directly  or  immed- 
iately connected  with  "local  issues"  superficialh^  considered, 
the  presence  of  judges,  even  of  the  court  of  highest  resort  in 
the  State,  was  not  deemed  inappropriate,  and  among  the  dele- 
gates we  find  the  names  of  every  member  of  the  Supreme 
Court  as  then  constituted,  namely:  Caleb  Baldwin  of  Potta- 


THE  REPUBLICAN  PRELIMINARIES  OF  1860  153 

wattamie  county,  Ralph  P.  Lowe  of  Lee,  and  L.  D.  Stockton 
of  Des  INIoines.  George  (i.  Wright  of  Van  Bureu  had  but  a  few 
days  before  left  the  court  and  was  later  to  be  its  Chief  Jus- 
tice. Sundry  important  officials  of  that  court  were  also  in 
the  convention.  Mr.  Wm.  Penn  Clarke  of  Johnson  was  re- 
porter of  the  supreme  court  from  1855  to  1860.  The  first  at- 
torney general  of  the  state,  Mr.  D.  C.  Cloud,  of  Muscatine 
county,  had  been  selected  by  the  party  convention  at  Musca- 
tine, but  his  attendance  at  Des  Moines  is  not  recorded.  Two 
of  the  delegates  in  Sherman 's  Hall  afterwards  became  attorney 
general,  Messrs.  John  F.  McJunkin  of  Washington  and  Henry 
O'Connor  of  Muscatine. 

Two  members  of  the  commission  to  revise  the  code  of  the 
State  that  submitted  its  report  to  the  General  Assembly  in 
1860,  Messrs.  Charles  Ben  DarAvin  of  Des  Moines  eountv,  who 

7  I.     7 

had  been  active  in  securing  Abraham  Lincoln's  consent  to 
speak  in  Burlington  in  1858,  and  Wm.  Smyth  of  Linn  county, 
were  among  the  delegates. 

There  were  nine  state  officers  in  the  convention  as  delegates ; 
three  district  judges  and  three  district  attorneys;  two  county 
judges,  three  clerks  of  county  courts,  and  one  county 
treasurer  —  twenty-one  all  told.  This  number  was  not  very 
large  considering  the  fact  that  there  were  at  the  time  about 
five  hundred  and  fifty  state  and  county  officers,  two-thirds  of 
whom  were  probably  Republicans. 

If  we  include  the  members  of  the  state  central  committee  as 
servants  of  the  convention,  sixteen  delegates  had  represented 
or  afterwards  represented  the  people  of  Iowa  or  other  states  in 
the  national  House  of  Representatives  at  Washington,  many 
of  them  achieving  noteworthy  distinction  in  the  deliberations 
and  decisions  of  that  body.  They  were  Wm.  B.  Allison  of  Du- 
buque county,  T.  M.  BoAven  of  Page,  Rush  Clark  of  Johnson, 
W.  G.  Donnan  of  Buchanan.  John  Edwards  of  Lucas,  J.  B. 
Grinnell  of  Poweshiek,  W.  P.  Hepburn  of  Marshall,  A.  W. 
Hubbard  of  Woodbury,  John  A.  Kasson  of  Polk,  Wm.  Lough- 
ridge  of  Mahaska,  Jackson  Orr  of  Greene,  Charles  Pomeroy  of 
Boone,  Wm.  Smyth  of  Linn,  James  Thorington  of  Scott, 
James  B.  Weaver  of  Davis  and  James  F.  Wilson  of  Jefferson. 


154  IOWA  AND   ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

Five  of  the  delegates  subsequently  entered  the  Senate  of  the 
United  States.  Judge  George  G.  Wright  served  from  1871  to 
1876  M'hen  he  refused  re-election.  Mr.  T.  M.  Bowen,  after  a 
noteworthy  career  in  Kansas  and  Arkansas,  went  to  Colorado 
whence  he  Avas  elected  to  the  Senate  in  1883  serving  until 
1889.  The  other  three  delegates  who  reached  the  Senate  were 
Messrs.  Alvin  Saunders  of  Henry,  James  F.  AA^ilson  of  Jeffer- 
son and  W.  B.  Allison  of  Dubuque  county,  of  whose  careers 
more  will  be  said.  In  1854  ]\Ir.  Fitz  Henry  Warren  was  the 
leading  candidate  of  the  Whigs  for  the  Senate,  but  Mr.  James 
Harlan  was  finally  elected.  In  1858  Wm.  Penn  Clarke  and 
Wm.  Smyth  were  prominently  mentioned  and  received  votes 
in  the  party  caucus  when  ]Mr.  Grimes  was  selected. 

In  the  executive  departments  of  the  national  government 
some  of  the  delegates  had  had.  or  later  achieved,  position  and 
influence.  ]Mr.  Fitz  Henrj^  Warren  had  been  assistant  post- 
master general  under  President  Taylor  and  subsequently  was 
secretary  of  the  national  committee  of  the  anti-slavery  Whigs 
in  the  presidential  campaign  of  1852.  W.  H.  F.  Gurley  of 
Scott  county,  became  President  Lincoln's  first  district  attor- 
ney in  Iowa ;  ill  health  and  death  soon  cut  off  a  career  of  bril- 
liant promise.  The  careers' of  INIessrs.  Henry  O'Connor  and 
H.  C.  Caldwell  will  require  mention  subsequently. 

Three  of  the  delegates  accredited  to  the  convention  in  Sher- 
man's Hall  that  afternoon  attained  to  such  nation-wide  in- 
fluence that  at  various  times  they  were  urged  by  admirers  in 
national  political  parties  for  presidential  honors.  Mr.  J.  B. 
Weaver  of  Davis  county  was  twice  nominated  for  the  presi- 
dency; first,  by  the  National  Greenback  ^party  in  1880,  receiv-, 
ing  350.000  votes,  and,  again,  in  1892  by  the  People's  party, 
obtaining  1,042,531  votes  at  the  polls  and  22  votes,  represent- 
ing five  states,  in  the  Electoral  College.  The  mention  of 
Messrs.  H.  C.  Caldwell  of  Van  Buren  county  and  Wm.  B. 
Allison  of  Dubuque  county  in  this  connection  will  be  referred 
to  later. 

Within  a  year  and  a  half  after  the  convention  met  war 
drums  Avere  calling  men  to  arms  in  defense  of  the  Union,  the 
existence  of  which  was  attacked  because  of  the  action  thev,  or 


THE  REPUBLICAN  PRELnilNARIES  OF  1S60  ir,r. 

their  delegates  for  them,  were  to  take  at  Chicago  in  deciding 
the  national  leadership.  Nearly  one-fifth  of  the  delegates  en- 
listed in  the  volunteer  regiments. 

Fifteen  delegates  became  Captains:  F.  T.  Campbell  of  Jas- 
per county,  M.  Clark  of  Jefferson,  C.  F.  Conn  of  Lee,  G.  M. 
Dean  of  Allamakee,  F.  M.  Kelsey  of  Jackson,  J.  P.  j\IcEwen  of 
Guthrie,  P.  G.  C.  Merrill,  of  Warren,  J.  C.  Mitchell  of  ^Vap- 
ello,  L.  C.  Noble  of  Fayette,  Jackson  Orr  of  Greene,  J.  H. 
Powers  of  Chickasaw,  P.  A.  Queal  of  Story,  E.  M.  Rippey  of 
Greene.  J.  H.  Shutts  of  Benton  and  AV.  P.  Ward  of  Jackson. 

^Messrs.  L.  Dewey  of  Henr}^  W.  G.  Donnan  of  Fayette,  "W. 
C.  Drake  of  Wayne,  Charles  Foster  of  Scott,  H.  B.  Lynch  of 
Iowa,  Henry  O'Connor  of  Muscatine,  N.  J.  Rusch  of  Scott, 
John  Safel}-  of  Linn  and  Calvin  Taj'lor  of  Davis  became 
Majors.  Messrs.  Charles  Aldrich  of  Hamilton  and  L.  C.  Noble 
of  Fayette  were  tendered  the  rank  of  ]Major  but  for  business 
reasons  declined  the  advance  in  official  rank. 

Doctors  Wm.  McK.  Findley  of  Davis,  D.  C.  Hastings  of 
Buchanan  and  Amos  Witter  of  Linn  eount}^  became  regimental 
surgeons. 

Eight  of  the  delegates  became  Lieutenant  Colonels — J.  W. 
Caldwell  of  Wapello,  Geo.  .B.  Corkhill  of  Henry,  Thomas 
Drummond  of  Benton,  J.  Ferguson  of  Marion,  W.  P.  Hep- 
burn of  ^Marshall,  Geo.  W.  Howard  of  Chickasaw,  J.  W.  Jenk- 
ins of  Jackson,  Samuel  McFarland  of  Henry,  and  S.  C.  Van 
Anda  of  Delaware  county. 

Among  Iowa's  Colonels  we  find  Daniel  Anderson  of  j\Ionroe, 
A.  H.  Bereman  of  Henry,  H.  C.  Caldwell  of  A^an  Buren,  P.  P. 
Henderson  of  Warren,  Samuel  ]\Ierrill  of  Clayton,  John  Pat- 
tee  of  Bremer,  J.  W.  Rankin  of  Lee,  John  Shane  of  Benton, 
and  Wm.  Sm^-th  of  Linn.  jMessrs.  R.  H.  Ballinger  of  Boone 
and  Henry  Ramming  of  Scott,  entered  the  army  in  Illinois 
and  became  Colonels.  Wm.  Penn  Clarke  of  Johnson  as 
Pa^'master  had  the  rank  of  Colonel  and  M.  L.  McPherson  at- 
tained the  rank  bv  brevet  at  the  close  of  the  war. 

For  distinguished  service,  bravery  and  meritorious  conduct, 
Messrs.  T.  M.  Bowen  of  Page.  Thos.  H.  Benton,  Jr.,  of  Potta- 
wattamie. D.  B.  Hillis  of  Davis.  Hiram  Scofield  of  Washing- 


156  IOWA  AND   ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

ton,  Franklin  A.  Stratton  of  AVebster,  W.  M.  Stone  of  i\Iarion, 
J.  B.  AA^eaver  of  Davis,  and  Ed  AVright  of  Cedar  county  ap- 
pear on  the  muster  rolls  at  the  close  of  the  army  as  Brevet 
Brigadier  Generals.  Mr.  John  Edwards  of  Lucas  attained 
full  rank  as  Brigadier  General  of  volunteers  and  Mr.  Fitz 
Henry  AVarren  of  Des  Moines  county  closed  his  army  service 
in  defense  of  the  Union  with  the  rank  of  Brevet  Major  Gen- 
eral. 

Among  the  delegates  was  a  group  that  added  special  spice 
and  flavor — a  group  that  had  been  foremost  in  furthering  the 
extreme  anti-slavery  views.  They  were  all  especially  active 
in  connection  with  Kansas,  John  Brown  and  Underground 
Railways.  AAHien  the  settlement  of  Kansas  was  the  object  of  so 
much  contention  between  the  Slavocrats  and  the  "Free  state 
men"  in  1856,  AVm.  Penn  Clarke  was  the  member  for  Iowa 
of  the  notable  National  Kansas  Committee.  He  forwarded 
many  "Liberty  men"  and  Sharpe's  rifles  to  Tabor.  AVhen 
matters  approached  their  crisis  in  1856  a  mass  meeting  Avas 
held  in  Iowa  City  to  aid  the  emigration  of  anti-slavery  men  to 
Kansas,  and  a  committee  was  appointed  on  which  were  Messrs. 
Clarke,  M.  L.  Morris  and  I.  N.  [G.  H.?]  Jerome.  One  result 
of  the  meeting  was  that  Mr.  Geo.  D.  AVoodin,  then  of  Johnson, 
but  later  of  Keokuk  county,  traveled  throughout  southern 
Iowa  organizing  local  committees.  Among  the  local  committee- 
men were  Judge  AA^m.  M.  Stone  of  Knoxville,  Mr.  A.  J.  Stevens 
of  Des  Moines,  and  Dr.  B.  S.  Noble  of  Indianola.^  It  was  Mr. 
R.  L.  B.  Clarke  of  Henry  county  who  led  the  fight  in  the 
Constitutional  Convention  of  1857  to  strike  "white"  from  the 
constitution  and  entitle  Negroes  to  enjoy  all  political  privi- 
leges, and  it  Avas  Mr.  Henry  O'Connor  of  Muscatine  Avho 
championed  the  unpopular  measure  on  the  hustings.  AVhen 
John  BroAvn  passed  through  the  State  the  last  time,  in  1858 
with  the  slaves  which  he  had  forcefully  assisted  in  escaping 
from  their  masters  in  Missouri,  Rev.  Demas  Robinson,  near 
Des  Moines,  Mr.  J.  B.  Grinnell,  at  Grinnell,  and  Dr.  Jesse 
Bowen  and  Mr.  A\^.  P.  Clarke  at  Iowa  City  gave  him  "aid  and 


^History  of  Keokuk  County    (1880)    p.   432-3. 


THE  REPUBLICAN  PRELIMINARIES  OF  1860  157 

comfort"  at  risk  of  the  public  peace,  and  their  personal  safety/ 
When  Virginia's  sheriff,  on  Gov.  Letcher's  requisition,  sought 
Barclay  Coppoc,  the  youth  of  Springdale  who  was  one  of 
Brown's  aids  at  Harper's  Ferry,  it  was  Messrs.  Ed  Wright  of 
Cedar  and  B.  F.  Gue  of  Scott  who  gave  the  alarm  at  the  capitol 
and  Messrs.  J.  B.  Grinnell,  J.  W.  Cattell,  auditor  of  state, 
Amos  Hoag  of  Winneshiek  and  David  Hunt  of  Hardin  county, 
who  co-operated  in  sending  the  post  rider  to  warn  the  fugitive 
at  the  Quaker  village  in  Cedar  county.-  Among  other 
staunch  promoters  of  the  rights  of  Negroes  and  supporters  of 
John  Brown  in  the  convention  were  Mr.  Coker  F.  Clarkson  of 
Grundy  and  Mr.  Jacob  Butler  of  Muscatine.  It  was  Mr.  Butler 
who  presided  at  the  Congregational  Council  in  Chicago  in 
1859,  when  some  stout  anti-slavery  resolutions  Avere  adopted. 
All  the  foregoing  took  part  in  the  proceedings  in  Sherman's 
Hall. 

A  number  of  the  delegates  had  then  engaged  or  later  en- 
gaged in  literary  effort  of  the  formal  sort  to  an  extent  that 
would  entitle  them  to  enrollment  among  the  "literary  folk" 
of  the  State.  Excluding  the  judges  of  the  supreme  court  who 
are  book-makers  ex  officio,  and  editors  of  weekly  or  daily 
newspapers,  there  were  seventeen  who  have  to  their  credit 
published  writings  dealing  with  matters  of  historical  or  tech- 
nical interest,  appearing  in  the  form  of  articles  or  brochures, 
biographies,  memoirs,  official  reports  and  treatises.  Of  the 
legal  work  of  Charles  Ben  Darwin,  especially  his  report  rec- 
ommending a  new  code  of  civil  and  criminal  procedure,  a 
recent  commentator  says :  ' '  He  exerted  more  influence,  prob- 
ably, than  any  one  man  of  his  age  and  experience  upon  the 
practice  of  the  State  of  lowa."^  Mr.  D.  C.  Cloud,  Iowa's 
first  attorney  general,  originally  designated  as  one  of  the  dele- 
gates from  Muscatine  county,  wrote  two  stout  treatises  on  the 
War  Powers  of  the  President  and  Monopolies  and  the  People. 
Messrs.  C.  F.  Clarkson,  Suel  Foster  and  J.  H.  Sanders  became 
extensive  writers  upon  farming,  horticulture  and  stockbreed- 
ing.    Wm.  Penn  Clarke,  and  Hawkins  Taylor  later  made  sub- 


^Aniials   of  loiva    (1st   Series)    Vol.    IV,    667-669,    715-719. 

'Gue,  History  of  loioa,  II,  17. 

^Cole  &  Ebersole,   The  Courts  and  Legal  Profession  of  Iowa,  1,   87. 


158  IOWA  AND   ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

stantial  conti'ibutions  to  the  historical  literature  of  the  State. 
Articles  from  the  pen  of  James  F.  AYilson  appeared  in  our  na- 
tional magazines.  The  letters  of  Fitz  Henry  Warren  to  The 
Springfield  (Mass.)  RepuhUcmi  and  later  to  the  N.  Y.  Daily 
Tribune  have  become  historic.  It  was  his  celebrated  criticisms 
of  the  course  of  the  national  government  in  the  early  days  of 
the  Civil  AVar  under  the  caption,  "On  to  Richmond,"  that 
precipitated  the  disaster  at  Bull  Run.  In  1855  Mr.  H.  P. 
Scholte  put  forth  an  interesting  brochure  on  American  Slav- 
ery, containing  an  acute  discussion  of  that  moot  question.  ]\Ir. 
J.  B.  Grinnell  has  given  us  a  considerable  volume  of  recollec- 
tions, entitled  Men  and  Events  of  Forty  Years.  Mr.  J.  H. 
Powers  wrote  Historical  Reminiscences  of  Chickasaiv  County. 
Mr.  Wm.  Larrabee  is  the  author  of  The  Railroad  Question,  an 
energetic  discussion  of  a  vexed  question.  Mr.  B.  F.  Gue,  be- 
sides extensive  contributions  to  local  biography  and  history, 
wrote  four  substantial  volumes  entitled  The  History  of  Iowa. 
L.  D.  Ingersoll,  celebrated  in  Iowa  during  the  "sixties"  as  a 
war  correspondent  under  the  nom  de  plume  of  "  Linkensale, " 
wrote  three  considerable  volumes,  Iowa  and  the  ReheUion. 
The  Life  and  Times  of  Horace  Greeley  and  The  History  of 
the  War  Department.  Besides  sundry  minor  contributions 
of  worth,  Mr.  John  A.  Kasson  wrote  a  scholarly  treatise  on 
The  Evolution  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  and 
History  of  the  Monroe  Doctnne  which  has  become  one  of  the 
standard  references  on  these  subjects  in  all  our  public  and 
university  libraries.  Mr.  Charles  Aldrich.  an  editorial  writer 
of  great  force  and  vivacity,  in  addition  to  the  authorship  of 
numerous  articles  re-established  and  for  sixteen  years  edited 
The  Annals  of  loiva.  His  magnum  opus  in  the  conclusion  of 
his  career  was  the  creation  of  the  Historical  Department  of 
Iowa  and  bringing  into  being  the  handsome,  stately  structure 
on  capitol  hill  which  now  houses  his  precious  Collections  and 
the  increasing  historical  lore  of  the  State  of  Iowa. 

It  is  possible,  of  course,  that  the  Republicans  of  Iowa  have 
had  state  conventions  whereat  a  higher  average  of  ability  and 
achievement  and  a  greater  number  of  notables  have  been  in 


THE  REPUBLICAN  PRELIMINARIES  OF  1860  IT)'.) 

attendance  than  was  true  of  the  conclave  of  the  party's  chiefs 
and  workers  at  Sherman's  Hall  on  January  18,  1860,  but  the 
writer  doubts  if  the  fact  can  be  demonstrated. 

(c)  Selecting  the  Delegates  to  the  National  Convention. 

For  the  committee  on  permanent  organization,  Mr.  Charles 
Foster  of  Scott  county,  reported  in  favor  of  the  nomination  of 
the  following  delegates  for  the  offices  mentioned.  Their  rec- 
ommendations were  concurred  in.  Mr.  "W.  W.  Hamilton,  of 
Dubuque,  who  had  won  distinction  as  presiding  officer  of  the 
state  Senate  in  1856  and  1858,  was  made  chaii-man.  Pur- 
suant to  an  amiable  custom  doubtless  not  free  from  artful  de- 
sign, ten  delegates  were  designated  as  "Vice-Presidents"; 
A.  W.  Hubbard  of  Woodbury,  Mr.  J.  B.  Grinnell  of  Powe- 
among  the  number  being  Benedict  Hugel  of  Lee  county.  Judge 
shiek,  Jackson  Orr  of  Greene,  Mr.  Jacob  Butler  of  Muscatine, 
Mr.  Francis  Mangold  of  Dubuque,  Mr.*  Amos  Hoag  of  Winne- 
shiek and  Mr.  Charles  Pomeroy  of  Boone.  D.  D.  Chase  of 
Hamilton,  J.  G.  Davenport  of  Linn,  J.  K.  Graves  of  Dubuque. 
T.  R.  Oldham  of  Clarke,  Henry  Lischer  of  Scott,  and  H.  P. 
Scholte  of  Marion,  were  made  secretaries.  In  the  selection 
of  Messrs.  Hugel,  Mangold,  Lischer  and  Scholte,  one  may  dis- 
cern delicate,  and  as  diplomats  phrase  it,  "distinguished  con- 
sideration," of  the  foreign  vote  in  the  eastern  counties.  In 
the  exaltation  of  so  many  notables  of  Dubuque  one  suspects 
shrcAvd  tactics  anent  the  senatorial  election  then  pending. 

The  delegates  proceeded  at  once  with  the  business  of  the 
convention.  On  motion  of  Mr.  Hawley  of  Decatur  county,  it 
Avas  provided  that  the  entire  vote  of  a  county  could  be  cast  by 
the  delegates  or  delegate  present.  Senator  Drummond  of  Ben- 
ton county  then  introduced  a  resolution  directing  that  the  con- 
vention proceed  to  elect  "eight  delegates  to  the  national  Re- 
publican convention,  four  from  the  State  at  large,  and  two 
from  each  congressional  district  —  but  one  delegate  to  be 
elected  at  a  time  and  by  a  viva  voce  vote,  on  a  call  of  the 
counties,  a  majority  being  required  to  elect."  Mr.  Brown  of 
Black  Hawk  moved  to  amend  bv  striking  out  eight  and  in- 


160  IOWA  AND  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

serting  two  from  "each  judicial  district"  of  which  there 
were  eleven  in  the  State,  the  delegates  to  be  "named  by  each 
district.  ■•  As  a  substitute  'Sir.  Gue  of  Scott  county  moved  the 
adoption  of  the  following: 

Resolved.  That  the  convention  now  proceed  to  elect  two  delegates 
from  each  judicial  district,  to  be  selected  by  the  delegates  from  each 
district,  and  five  delegates  at  large,  to  be  elected  by  a  viva  voce  vote 
upon  call  of  the  counties,  one  delegate  to  be  elected  at  a  time. 

We  are  told  that  upon  the  introduction  of  Senator  Drum- 
mond's  motion  "an  animated  discussion  ensued."  lasting  for 
two  hours.  The  enthusiasm  of  the  disputants  and  the  dele- 
gates at  times  "kindled  into  a  blaze."  The  correspondent  of 
The  Haick-Eye  tells  us  that  "it  was  dark  when  these  prelimi- 
nary matters  were  settled  and  the  entire  afternoon  was  con- 
sumed in  boisterous  though  good-humoured  debate  in  which 
neither  the  chairman  nor  any  member  could  define  what  the 
question  before  the  convention  was."'^  Mr.  Gue's  motion  was 
finally  modified  by  an  amendment  of  Senator  Drummond's 
providing  for  selection  of  the  delegates  by  a  plurality  vote. 

The  convention  first  took  an  informal  ballot  on  delegates 
at  large  with  the  following  result: 

L.  C.  Noble.  43:  T.  J.  W.  Tabor.  20:  W.  Penn  Clarke,  52:  J. 
A.  Kasson,  28:  Henry  O'Connor,  36;  N.  J.  Rusch,  12:  J.  W.  Norris, 
.31;  .J.  F.  Wilson,  22;  A.  Sa[u]nders,  33:  M.  L.  McPherson.  16;  S. 
Bagg,  5;  Thomas  Seeley,  10:   J.  B.  Grinnell,  11;    Scattering,  18. 

The  convention  thereupon  proceeded  to  a  formal  ballot.  The 
distribution  of  the  votes  among  the  sundry  favorites  named 
-on  the  several  ballots  is  not  less  interesting  than  in  the  in- 
formal ballot,  and  a  transcript  of  the  proceedings  as  pub- 
lished follows : 

1— .J.  W.  Norris  4,  Thomas  Seeley  4.  W.  Penn  Clarke  110.  T.  J.  W. 
Tabor  52,  J.  A.  Kasson  5,  A.  Saunders  33,  Henry  O'Connor  15,  L.  C. 
Noble  2,  M.  L.  McPherson  4,  J.  F.  Wilson  31. 

On  motion  W.  Penn  Clark  of  Johnson  county  was  unanimously 
elected  a  delegate  at  large. 


^The  Daily  Hawk-Eye,  Jan.  23.  1860. 


THE  REPUBLICAN  PRELIMINARIES  OF  1860  lt;i 

2d  formal  ballot— L.  C.  Noble  134,  J.  W.  Norris  27,  H.  OConnor 
37,  J.  A.  Kasson  39,  M.  L.  McPherson  21,  J.  F.  Wilson  51,  A.  Saun- 
ders 12. 

On  motion,  L.  C.  Xoble  of  Fayette  county,  was  unanimously 
elected  the  second  delegate  at  large. 

3rd  formal  ballot— J.  A.  Kasson  161,  J.  W.  Rankin  16,  H.  O'Con- 
nor 145,  J.  W.  Norris  4,  T.  Seeley  4. 

On  motion,  J.  A.  Kasson  of  Polk  county,  was  unanimously  elected 
the  third  delegate  at  large. 

4th  ballot— H.  OConnor  161,  J.  W.  Rankin  55,  J.  F.  Wilson  116. 
M.  L.  McPherson  6. 

On  motion,  H.  OConnor  of  Muscatine  county,  was  unanimously 
elected  the  4th  delegate  at  large. 

6th  [5th?]  ballot— C.  F.  Clarkson  23,  J.  F.  Wilson  148,  J.  W.  Ran- 
kin 110,  E.  Bloomer  17,  N.  J.  Rusch  9. 

On  motion,  J.  F.  Wilson  of  Jefferson  countj",  was  unanimously 
elected  as  the  fifth  delegate  at  large. 

The  selections  apparently  did  not  suffice  or  they  perhaps 
produced  some  discontent  on  the  part  of  the  friends  of  several 
receiving  votes  but  unsuccessful,  for  immediately,  on  motion 
of  Dr.  Bowen  of  Johnson  county,  the  following  persons  were 
unanimously  elected  as  additional  delegates  at  large : — Judge 
J.  AY.  Rankin  of  Lee  county,  Senator  ]\I.  L.  AlcPherson  of 
Madison.  Air.  C.  F.  Clarkson  of  Grundy,  and  Lt.-Govemor 
X.  J.  Rusch  of  Scott,  making  nine  altogether. 

The  roll  of  the  judicial  districts  was  then  called  for  nomi- 
nations for  delegates  to  represent  the  local  constituencies. 
The  nominees  apparently  were  all  unanimously  elected  without 
delay  or  dispute.  It  is  not  indicated  whether  they  had  been 
selected  by  district  caucuses  held  prior  to  the  assembly  of  the 
delegates  in  Sherman's  Hall  or  by  conferences  on  the  floor 
during  the  convention.  The  following  are  the  names  of  the 
gentlemen  elected  in  the  order  of  the  roll : 

The  first  district  selected  Air.  Alvin  Saunders  of  Henry  and 
Dr.  J.  C.  AValker  of  Lee  county.  For  the  second.  H.  Clay 
Caldwell  of  A^an  Buren  and  Air.  Al.  Baker  of  AVapello 
[AA'ayne?]  county  were  designated.  The  third  district  chose 
All-.  Benjamin  Rector  of  Fremont  and  Air.  George  A.  Hawley 
of  Decatur  county.  The  fourth  district  nominated  Judge  A. 
A^'.  Hubbard  of  AVoodbury  and  Air.  J.  E.  Blackford  of  Kos- 

11 


162  IOWA  AND  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

sutli  county.  The  fifth  selected  Messrs.  Thomas  Seeley  of 
Guthrie  and  C.  C.  Nourse  of  Polk  county.  For  the  sixth, 
Judge  W.  M.  Stone  of  Marion  and  Mr.  J,  B.  Grinnell  of  Powe- 
shiek were  nominated.  The  seventh  district  nominated  Mr. 
Wm.  A.  Warren  of  Jackson  and  Mr.  John  AV.  Thompson  of 
Scott.  The  nominees  of  the  eighth  district  were  Mr.  John 
Shane  of  Benton  and  Judge  Wm.  Smyth  of  Linn  county ;  and 
of  the  ninth,  Messrs.  Wm.  B.  Allison  of  Dubuque  and  A.  F. 
Bro-wTi  of  Black  Hawk  county.  The  tenth  district  nominated 
Judge  Keuben  Noble  of  Clayton  county  and  Mr.  E.  G.  Bow- 
doin  of  Floyd  county.  The  eleventh  district  presented  the 
names  of  Mr.  Wm.  P.  Hepburn  of  ]\Iarshall  county  and  Mr. 
J.  F.  Bro^\Ti  of  Hardin  county. 

All  of  the  delegates  chosen  at  Des  Moines  attended  the  na- 
tional convention  at  Chicago  save  three — Messrs.  J.  E.  Black- 
ford, H.  C.  Caldwell  and  A.  W.  Hubbard.  Their  proxies 
were  exercised  by  Messrs.  Jacob  Butler,  J.  W.  Caldwell  and 
Herbert  M.  Hoxie.  Mr.  R.  L.  B.  Clarke  was  with  the  dele- 
gates in  the  Wig\vam  and  took  part  in  their  conferences  and 
decisions  as  an  alternate.^  In  what  follows  the  proxies  and 
their  principals  will  not  be  distinguished.  As  the  years  have 
increased,  the  distinction  of  the  convention  at  Chicago  has  in- 
creased and  likewise  the  claims  to  membership  in  Iowa's  dele- 
gation. The  writer  has  come  upon  the  names  of  four  others 
for  whom  biographers  or  eulogists  have  claimed  membership 
therein ;  but  so  far  as  he  can  discover  without  warrant.  We 
may  suspect  that  attendance  at  the  convention  as  unofficial 
representatives  has  been  transmuted  into  official  representa- 
tion. 

As  soon  as  the  delegates  to  Chicago  were  decided  upon, 
Senator  Thomas  Drummond  introduced  the  following  resolu- 
tion : 

Resolved,  That  the  delegation  from  Iowa  are  hereby  instructed  to 
cast  the  vote  of  the  State  as  a  unit,  and  that  a  majority  of  the  dele- 
gates determine  the  action,  of  the  delegation. 

The  motion  was  lost.  Whether  or  not  there  was  any  debate 
thereon  and  by  what  number  of  votes  the  resolution  was  de- 

Unterview  wHh  Judge  C.  C.  Nourse  and  letter  of  R.  L.  B.  Clarke  to  the 
writer    (Mss.)- 


THE  REPUBLICAN  PRELIMINARIES  OF  1860  163 

feated  are  not  recorded.     The  significance  of  the  resolution, 
the  design  of  the  mover,  and  the  real  purport  of  the  action  of 
the  convention  in  refusing  thus  to  control  the  course  of  their 
delegates  at  the  national  convention,  can  only  be  surmised. 
The  mover  was  an  able  and  tried  tactician  in  practical  poli- 
tics.    He  had  attended  the  first  national  convention  of  the 
Republican  party  at  Philadelphia  in  1856  as  a  delegate  and 
he  was  an  influential  editor  and  leader  in  the  party's  councils 
in  the  State.     It  is  hardly  probable  that  his  resolution  was  un- 
premeditated, introduced  on  the  spur  of  the  moment  on  a 
vagrant  impulse.     He  knew  that  in  national  party  conven- 
tions,  as  in  state  or  local  conventions,   a  delegation  or  its 
leaders  are  potent  when  they  have  their  delegates  well  in  hand 
and  can  "count  on  them"  and  can  swing  them  to  the  right  or 
to  the  left  at  critical  junctures  in  maneuvres.    Divided  dele- 
gations,  like   dissevered  army   corps,    are  usually   impotent. 
Judge  ]\rcLean's  nomination  at  Philadelphia  in  1856  might 
have  been  accomplished  with  ease  had  Ohio's  delegation  been 
a  unit  on  his  behalf  instead  of  split  asunder  by  bitter,  obsti- 
nate factional  differences  and  preferences.     Senator  Drum- 
mond  probably  had  the  avoidance  of  such  inefficiency  in  mind. 
^Moreover,  it  is  not  unlikely  that  he  expected  the  resolution,  if 
adopted,  to  operate  in  favor  of  the  candidacy  of  Senator  Sew- 
ard.    Senator  Drummond,  as  we  have  seen,  entertained  radical 
anti-slavery  views,  sympathizing  frankly  with  John  Brown, 
He  was  also  a  staunch  friend  and  supporter  of  Senator  Harlan, 
who  was  a  known  friend  and  admirer  of  the  Senator  from 
New  York,  and  then  or  very  soon  thereafter  becoming  an  advo- 
cate of  his  nomination  at  Chicago.     The  activity  of  Gov.  Sew- 
ard's friends  in  all  of  the  northern  states,  straight  west  of 
New  York,  on  behalf  of  his  candidacy  and  their  success  in 
securing  instructions  for  him  in  all,  save  Iowa,  gives  color  to 
the  surmise  here  ventured.     It  is  the  recollection  of  Judge 
C.  C.  Nourse  that  it  was  the  opinion  in  the  lobbies  that  Gov. 
Seward  was  to  be  the  beneficiary  of  the  resolution.^ 


'Letter  of  Judge  C.  C.  Nourse  to  the  writer   (Mss.) 


164  IOWA  AND  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

An  account  of  the  proceedings  in  Der  Demokrat,  the  Ger- 
man Republican  paper  of  Davenport,  gives  grounds  for  think- 
ing that  possibly  specific  instructions  for  Senator  Seward  were 
formally  presented  and  formally  rejected.  In  a  brief  notice 
of  the  convention  we  find  the  statement  that  "ein  antrag  die 
delegaten  zu  instruiren  wurde  verworfen."  This  assertion 
that  instructions  were  defeated  is  followed  by  another  indi- 
cating the  self-control  of  the  delegates :  ' '  Die  stimmung  der 
convention  war  sehr  stark  zu  gunsten  von  Wm.  H.  Seward 
fur  President."  Two  facts  make  one  skeptical  as  to  the 
former  statement.  First,  it  is  the  only  one  to  the  same  effect  the 
writer  has  discovered  in  the  press  reports  or  in  the  editorial 
comments  on  the  proceedings ;  and  we  should  normally  expect 
a  matter  of  such  vital  significance  in  the  political  contest  then 
approaching  its  culmination  to  be  generally  referred  to  in 
contemporary  comment.  Second,  the  context  suggests  some 
confusion.  Just  preceding  the  first  sentence  quoted  is  the 
statement  that  the  convention  adopted  Senator  Drummond's 
resolution  providing  for  a  "plurality"  rule  in  voting.  Ap- 
parently Senator  Drummond's  resolution  to  bind  the  national 
delegates  by  the  unit  rule  was  confused  with  another  motion 
by  him  amending  Mr.  Gue's,  Avhereby  the  convention  should 
elect  the  delegates  to  the  national  convention  by  a  plurality 
instead  of  by  a  majority  of  the  votes  cast.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  publisher  of  Der  Demokrat,  Mr,  Henry  Lischer,  and  one 
of  its  leading  writers,  Mr.  Henry  Ramming,  were  both  dele- 
gates from  Scott  county  to  the  convention.  One  or  the  other, 
doubtless  penned  the  account  from  Avhich  the  statement  above 
is  quoted  and  we  may  presume  that  he  wrote  advisedly.  What- 
ever may  have  been  the  facts  we  shall  see  that  the  rejection 
of  Senator  Drummond's  resolution  providing  for  the  unit 
rule  was  subsequently  considered  as  equivalent  to  refusal  to 
instruct  for  Senator  Seward.^ 

The  defeat  of  Senator  Drummond's  resolution  was  followed 
by  a  motion  to  adjourn  until  eight  o'clock.  As  the  primary 
purpose  of  the  convention  had  been  accomplished  one  feel* 


^Der  Demokrat,  Jan.  21,   1860. 


THE  REPUBLICAN  PRELIMINARIES  OF  1860  ]( .-) 

curiosity  as  to  the  object  of  reassembling  the  delegates.  The 
delegates  were  in  the  city  and  other  social  diversion  for  such 
a  number  may  not  have  been  feasible  and  sociability  and 
speech-making  may  have  been  the  only  matters  contemplated. 
Nevertheless,  those  familiar  with  popular  assemblages  are 
likely  to  suspect  shrewd  designs.  Mass  meetings,  unless  con- 
trolled by  dominant  leaders,  are  the  prey  of  fitful,  contradic- 
tory and  erratic  currents.  Emotionalism  is  wont  to  prevail ; 
sentimentalism  rather  than  sense.  Unforseen  events,  ofttimes 
artfully  produced,  may  result  in  gusts,  flurries  and  sometimes 
violent  outbursts  of  feeling  that  drive  the  delegates  pell-mell 
in  some  direction.  Skillful  tacticians  at  such  times  easily 
accomplish  purposes  othenvise  impossible.  The  convention 
had  made  no  declaration  of  principles.  It  had  refused  to  bind 
its  national  delegates  by  instructions.  Public  discussion  was 
rife  with  issues  that  aroused  intense  animosity.  Partisans  of 
sundry  views,  ardent  advocates  of  specific  courses,  energetic 
friends  of  candidates,  disappointed  in  obtaining  action  favor- 
able to  their  hopes  may  have  had  some  expectation  of  success 
in  furthering  their  cause  or  candidate  "after  supper." 

Whatever  the  considerations  or  designs,  the  delegates  on 
reassembling  transacted  but  little  business ;  but  that  little  was 
interesting  and  significant.  Two  more  delegates  at  large 
were  added  to  the  nine  selected  at  the  afternoon  session.  They 
were  the  Rev.  Henry  P.  Scholte,  editor  of  The  Pella  Gazette 
and  founder  of  the  Holland  community  at  Pella,  and  Rev. 
John  Johns,  the  pioneer  preacher  from  Wfebster  county  whose 
speech  had  so  stirred  the  convention  a  few  hours  before.  The 
selection  of  the  former  signified  again  recognition  of  the  stra- 
tegic importance  of  the  foreign  vote  in  the  coming  campaign, 
and  the  choice  of  the  latter  may  have  indicated  an  appreciation 
of  the  votes  in  the  congregations  of  the  Baptist  church  or  a 
spontaneous  proof  of  the  power  of  the  oratory  of  the  itinerant 
preacher. 

The  convention  then  converted  itself  into  a  "mass  ratifica- 
tion meeting."  Speeches  were  delivered  by  Messrs.  Henry 
O'Connor  and  Jacob  Butler  of  Muscatine,  Wm.  Penn  Clarke 
of  Johnson,  Enoch  W.  Eastman  of  Hardin,  C.  C.  Nourse  and 


166  IOWA  AND   ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

John  A.  Kasson  of  Polk.  Geo.  May  of  INIarion,  James  F.  Wil- 
son of  Jefferson,  and  Rev.  John  Johns.  ''The  speeches," 
Mr.  Jerome  of  Iowa  City  reported,  "were  very  spicy,  full  of 
marrow  and  the  meeting  was  enthusiastic  to  a  high  degree."^ 
In  the  course  of  his  speech  at  the  evening  session  Mr.  Johns, 
while  indicating  very  clearly  his  strong  personal  preference 
for  the  nomination  of  AVm.  II.  Seward  for  the  presidency  by 
the  Republicans  at  Chicago,  is  credited  with  the  observation 
that,  in  case  the  Democrats  in  their  national  convention  at 
Charleston  should  nominate  Stephen  A.  Douglas,  the  Republi- 
cans could  not  do  better  than  to  nominate  Abraham  Lincoln 
who  in  popular  judgment  had  worsted  the  "Little  Giant"  in 
their  celebrated  debate  in  1858. 

Before  one  can  justly  estimate  the  conduct  of  the  delegates 
or  the  significance  of  their  action,  the  conditions  under  which 
the  business  was  transacted  must  be  appreciated.  The  com- 
ments of  two  eye  witnesses,  one  a  participant  as  a  delegate, 
the  other  a  representative  of  the  opposite  political  party,  are 
interesting.  "R,"  correspondent  of  The  Gate  City,  penned 
the  following  on  the  night  of  the  convention : 

Impartial  justice  requires  the  statement  that  it  was  the  noisiest, 
most  uproarious,  confused,  good-natured,  hardworking  and  en- 
thusiastic convention  ever  witnessed  in  Iowa  or  any  other  countn" 
on  this  mundane  sphere.  It  was  also,  I  believe,  the  largest  Re- 
publican convention  ever  held  in  this  State. " 

The  correspondent  of  The  Duhuque  Herald  after  referring 
with  customary  partizan  irony  to  the  claim  of  Republicans 
that  their  party  comprehended  "all  the  decency  and  intel- 
ligence," wrote  (Jan.  23)  : 

It  was  the  most  disorderly,  uproarious  and  undignified  gathering 
that  has  lately  come  to  the  knowledge  of  the  peaceful  denizens  of 
this  locality.  Still  they  got  through  with  the  business  for  which 
they  assembled  in  a  manner  most  satisfactory  to  everybody  but 
themselves.^ 

Evidently  the  delegates  gave  their  feelings  full  vent  and  the 
right  of  way.    Spontaneity  of  expression  rather  than  docility 

'The  loica  City  Repnblican,  Jan.   25,   1860. 

-The  Daily  Gate  City.  Jan.  23.  1860.     Corr.  dated  at  Des  Moines,  Jan.  17. 

3^716  Dubuque  Herald.  Feb.  1,  1860.     Corr.  dated  at  Des  Moines,  Jan.  23. 


THE  REPUBLICAN  PRELIMINARIES  OF  1860  107 

and  obedient  concurrence  in  a  program,  constituted  the  defini- 
tive condition  in  the  determination  of  the  conclusions  of  the 
convention.     Some  considerations  will  demonstrate  this. 

(d)  Did  a  Machine  and  Wirepidlers  or  Common  Srnse  Control 

the  Convention? 

A  distinguished  national  historian,  contrasting  the  char- 
acter of  the  first  Republican  national  convention  at  Philadel- 
phia and  that  of  the  second  convention  at  Chicago,  designated 
the  delegates  to  the  first  as  "liberty-loving  enthusiasts  and 
largely  volunteers, ' '  and  those  to  the  second,  as  mainly  ' '  wire- 
pullers" and  "machine  politicians"  chosen  by  "means  of  the 
organization  peculiar  to  a  powerful  party"  who  were,  he 
adds,  "in  political  wisdom  the  pick  of  the  Republicans."^ 

One  might  ask  for  definitions  of  terms.  Be  the  merits  of 
the  contrast  what  they  may  it  is  well  to  keep  in  mind  that 
those  unfamiliar  with  the  practical  procedure  of  politics  are 
wont  to  regard  philanthropists  and  reformers  who  initiate  po- 
litical and  social  movements  as  always  animated  by  purely 
ethical  considerations,  as  free  from  malice  and  thoughts  of 
personal  gain,  and  "politicians"  as  wirepullers  whose  ways 
are  devious  and  dark,  whose  motives  are  petty,  or  sordid  or 
malevolent,  who  interpret  the  public  welfare  in  terms  of  per- 
sonal profit  or  party  advantage  with  the  same  objective  in  view. 
Any  one  who  has  had  but  little  intimate  acquaintance  with 
philanthropists  and  politicians  knows  that  very  prosaic  human 
considerations  prompt  and  energize  both  species  of  mankind. 
The  chicanery  and  hypocrisy  of  philanthropists  are  not  less 
extensive  nor  less  vicious  than  the  sordidness  of  politicians. 
Moreover,  experience  is  likely  to  make  one  conclude  that  the 
sentimentalism  and  stupidities  of  enthusiasts  in  polities  and 
government  are  more  to  be  dreaded  than  the  designs  of  poli- 
ticians pulling  wires  and  the  public  purse  strings  for  personal 
or  party  advantage. 

The  delegates  selected  by  the  Republicans  of  Iowa  to  repre- 
sent their  interests  and  wishes  at  the  Chicago  convention  were, 


Rhodes  History  of  the  United  States,  II,  457. 


I(i8  IOWA  AND  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

of  course,  ''politicians.''  They  Avere  politicians  in  the  old 
Greek  sense  of  citizens.  They  were  politicians  in  the  sense 
of  familiars  or  workers  in  the  science  and  art  of  government. 
They  were  politicians  in  the  sense  of  tacticians  adept  in  the 
management  and  maneuvres  of  party  caucuses  and  campaigns. 
Alauy  of  them,  doubtless  all  of  them,  sustained  reputations  in 
their  bailiwicks  for  capacity  and  force,  for  caution  and  shrewd- 
ness, for  patience  and  persistence  in  the  pursuit  and  accom- 
plishment of  personal  or  party  purposes.  They  are,  neverthe- 
less, individually  and  in  the  aggregate,  thoroughly  representa- 
tive of  the  ability  and  achievement  of  the  yeomanry  and  of  the 
leadership  of  the  Republican  party  then  in  control  of  the  pub- 
lic affairs  of  the  people  of  Iowa.  ^loreover  the  mode  of  their 
selection  gives  no  basis  for  the  assumption  that  the  delegates 
were  either  "machine"  politicians  or  the  appointees  of  the 
managers  of  a  "machine"  in  the  disagreeable  sense  tn  which 
the  term  is  used  nowadays. 

There  was  in  the  parlance  of  the  day.  a  group  of  party 
leaders  kno^^Ti  throughout  the  State  as  the  "capitol  crowd," 
who  no  doubt  worked  to  further  their  interests  in  the  selec- 
tion of  the  delegates;  but  if  they  had  a  program  or  ''slate" 
it  was  completely  smashed  and  their  forces  utterly  routed. 
"The  old  wheel  horses  in  the  Republican  team."  a  corres- 
pondent of  The  Hawk-Eyc  informs  us.  "opposed  sending  any 
more  than  one  man  to  cast  one  vote  .  .  .  "^  but  the  delega- 
tion selected  exceeded  four  delegates  for  every  vote  of  Iowa's 
quota.  Senator  Grimes  in  his  letter  to  Governor  Kirkwood 
said  he  would  select  "a  goodly  number  to  cast  the  vote  of 
Iowa,"  but  he  probably  did  not  think  of  more  than  sixteen 
delegates.  The  larger  the  number  in  a  delegation  the  less  the 
certainty  of  concert  of  action.  Some  of  the  leaders  later  in- 
dicated publicly  their  disapproval  of  the  large  number.  Mr. 
Jacob  Rich  of  the  Buchanan  County  Guardian  could  "not 
see  the  object."-  and  'Sir.  Teesdale  ironically  observed: — "If 
the  hall  [at  Chicago]  is  large  enough  the  delegates  will  all 
probably  be  admitted  and  exert  their  influence  on  the  action 

ir/ie  Daily  Hawk-Eye,  Jan.   23,   1860. 
-Buchanan  County  Guardian,  Jan.   26,   1860. 


THE  REPUBLICAN  PRELIMINARIES  OF  1860  Kill 

of  the  body.'"^  All  of  -vvhieh  means  that  the  convention  went 
counter  to  the  wishes  of  the  leaders  or  of  any  ring  or  machine 
that  ma}'  have  sought  to  control  its  action.  It  is  not  without 
significance  that  the  conventions  of  New  Jersey  and  Pennsyl- 
vania, two  states  whose  political  complexions  were  very 
dubious,  likewise  sent  large  delegations  to  Chicago,  the  former 
with  seven  votes  sending  21  delegates  and  the  latter  with  27 
votes  sending  108  delegates. 

The  distribution  of  the  votes  of  the  convention  in  the  in- 
formal and  formal  ballots  for  delegates  at  large  affords  in- 
teresting evidence  of  the  absence  of  autocratic,  domineering 
leadership  so  characteristic  of  a  machine  as  the  public  now  uses 
the  term.  On  the  informal  ballot  the  votes  were  divided  among 
more  than  thirteen  candidates.  The  highest  vote  east  for  any 
one  man  was  only  52  for  Mr.  Wm.  Penn  Clarke.  Two  only  of 
those  voted  for  had  attained  the  position  that  in  these  days 
would  insure  them  the  title  of  a  party  "boss."  They  were 
Mr.  John  A.  Kasson,  then  chairman  of  the  state  central  com- 
mittee, and  ]\Ir.  Alvin  Saunders,  who  served  Senator  Harlan 
so  efficiently  as  his  field  officer.  But  both  fell  below  four 
other  candidates  in  votes  received  in  that  informal  ballot. 
The  second  man  in  that  ballot.  ]\Ir.  L.  C.  Xoble.  was  a  merchant 
of  West  Union,  in  Fayette  county,  and  on  the  second  formal 
ballot  he  was  elected,  winning  over  Messrs.  Kasson,  O'Connor, 
McPherson.  Xorris,  Saunders  and  James  F.  Wilson,  all  potent 
leaders  of  state-wide  fame.  He  was  not  conspicuous  as  a  state 
leader.  He  was  then  a  member  of  the  lower  House  of  the  Leg- 
islature and  for  the  first  time.  He  w-as,  according  to  the  recol- 
lections of  old  associates,  a  likable  and  popular  man  in  Fay- 
ette county  and  in  the  General  Assembly.  The  votes  on  all  of 
the  ballots  for  delegates  at  large  demonstrate  conclusively  that 
there  were  neither  party  bosses  in  charge  of  the  convention 
nor  dominating  favorites  among  the  leaders. 

Another  highly  interesting  fact  in  line  with  this  conclusion 
was  the  absence  of  nearly  all  of  the  names  of  the  party  chiefs 
then  honored  with  high  official  position,  either  at  the  state 


^Daiht  loica  State  Register,  Jan.   20,  1860. 


170  IOWA  AND   ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

capitol  at  Des  ^Nloincs  or  at  the  national  capitol  at  Washing- 
ton. Senator  Grimes  had  urged  Gov.  Kirkwood  to  secure  a 
place  on  the  delegation ;  but  his  name  was  not  presented  at  all. 
None  of  the  men  in  what  we  may  designate  as  the  major  state 
offices  were  voted  for  and  neither  Congressman  Wm.  Vande- 
ver  nor  S.  R.  Curtis,  nor  Senators  James  W.  Grimes  or  James 
Harlan  received  votes.  Their  conspicuous  positions  doubtless 
operated  to  prevent  the  consideration  of  their  names  in  the 
ballotings.  As  prudent  politicians,  they  would  realize  that 
any  effort  on  the  part  of  themselves  personally  or  of  their  pro- 
moters, to  secure  the  honor  of  going  to  Chicago  when  so  many 
\vere  anxious  to  attend  the  national  convention  with  official 
credentials,  might  irritate  and  mayhap  alienate  friends  and 
supporters  and  have  serious  adverse  results  upon  their  careers 
afterAvards.  They  or  their  influential  friends  unquestionably 
prevented  the  use  of  their  names.  Senator  Harlan's  candi- 
dacy for  reelection  to  the  national  Senate  was  then  in  the  bal- 
ances and  this  fact  would  of  itself  make  him  and  his  friends 
backward  in  urging  his  name  as  a  delegate. 

Mr.  Teesdale  thought  that  it  would  be  "regarded  abroad, 
as  somewhat  singular  that  no  member  of  our  Senatorial  or 
Congressional  delegation  has  a  place  on  the  delegation."^ 
Iowa 's  course  in  this,  however,  was  typical  of  the  course  of  the 
conventions  of  most  of  the  states  sending  delegates  to  the 
Chicago  convention.  That  convention  was  noteworthy  for  the 
absence  of  congressional  leaders.  New  York  and  Rhode  Island 
alone  of  the  twenty-seven  states  represented,  each  sent  one  of 
their  respective  Senators,  and  JNIissouri  and  Pennsylvania 
each  sent  one  Congressman  and  Ohio  sent  two. 

Again  the  rejection  of  the  resolution  to  bind  the  delegation 
by  the  unit  rule  and  the  absence  or  apparent  absence  of  any 
motion  to  instruct  the  delegation,  indicates  clearly  the  demo- 
cratic and  popular  character  of  the  convention  in  Sherman's 
Hall.  Anything  suggestive  of  control  of  the  delegation  either 
«is  to  numbers  or  as  to  free  expression  of  the  preferences  of  the 
delegates  or  their  freedom  of  decision  at  Chicago,  produced 

Uhid 


THE  REPUBLICAN  PRELIMINARIES  OF  1860  ITl 

spirited  debate  and  plump  negatives  and  contrary  action  by 
the  convention.  The  effect  of  the  speech  of  John  Jphns  sug- 
gests that  spontaneous  action  rather  than  a  program,  con- 
trolled the  delegates. 

The  refusal  of  the  convention  to  bind  its  delegates  by  a  unit 
rule  and  its  non-action  in  the  matter  of  instructions,  possess 
significance  in  other  respects.  Describing  the  conduct  of  the 
convention  in  a  letter  to  his  paper.  The  Iowa  City  Repuhlican, 
Mr.  G.  H.  Jerome  observed:  "The  mention  of  the  name  of 
W.  H,  Seward,  the  first  man  of  the  Republic,  aAvoke  the  echoes 
of  the  hall.  I  think  among  all  the  candidates  named,  Seward 
is  the  decided  favorite  of  the  people  of  lowa."^  Whether  the 
enthusiasm  that  made  those  echoes  animated  chiefly  the  non- 
official  onlookers  in  Sherman's  Hall  or  the  delegates,  is  not 
indicated ;  but  it  is  probable  that  sentiment  in  favor  of  Sena- 
tor Seward  prevailed  decidedly  over  that  for  any  other  can- 
didate. Under  such  circumstances  the  decision  of  his  par- 
tizans  not  to  press  a  resolution  of  instructions  affords  us  sub- 
stantial grounds  for  believing  that  conservative  counsels  pre- 
dominated. In  Oregon,  Kansas,  Minnesota,  "Wisconsin  and 
Michigan  the  friends  and  promoters  of  his  candidacy  pushed 
and  secured  specific  instructions  binding  the  delegations  to 
vote  for  him.  They  sought  them  in  Maine,  New  Hampshire 
and  Massachusetts;  and  it  was  only  by  careful  management 
and  shrewd  tactics,  especially  in  Maine-  and  Massachusetts 
that  Seward's  opponents  prevented  similar  resolutions  in 
those  states.  His  admirers  and  advocates  at  Des  Moines  ap- 
preciated that  his  popularity  with  the  major  portion  of  the 
rank  and  file  of  the  Republicans  was  one  thing,  and  his  popu- 
larity with  a  belligerent  minority  and  with  the  independent 
voters  of  the  opposition  was  or  might  be  an  entirely  different 
matter.  When  majorities  are  small  and  uncertain  victories 
are  won  in  the  middle  grounds.  Iowa's  Republicans  at  Sher- 
man's Hall  were  controlled  by  clear-eyed  and  cool-headed 
party  leaders,  and  not  by  reckless,  erratic,  tempestuous  en- 

^The  Iowa  City  Repuhlican,  Jan.  25,  1860. 

^C.  S.  Hamlin's,  Life  and  Times  of  Hannibal  Hamlin,  pp.  331-351.     Bout- 
well's  Reminiscences  of  Sixty  Years  of  Public  Life,  I,  253. 


|72  IOWA  AND  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

thusiasts.  ]\Ir.  Jerome's  own  account  of  the  proceedings  il- 
lustrates this  admirably;  for  in  the  sentence  immediately  fol- 
lowing the  one  just  quoted  anent  the  popularity  of  Seward  he 
says,  "The  delegation,  however,  goes  uninstructed.  This  is 
as  it  should  be."  And  in  this  policy  or  procedure  the  action 
of  Iowa  was  precisely  the  action  of  Indiana  and  of  all  the 
New  England  states,  save  the  one  that  had  a  candidate  of  its 
own  to  commend  to  the  convention  at  Chicago. 

(e)   The  Delegation  to  the  National  Convention. 

However  we  may  regard  the  delegates  sent  by  the  Republi- 
cans of  Iowa  to  the  convention  at  Chicago,  whether  as  patriots 
or  as  politicians,. an  examination  of  their  careers  before  and 
after  the  convention  in  Sherman's  Hall  will  convince  most 
persons  that  they  represented  their  constituents  excellently, 
their  patriotism  and  their  prejudices  no  less  than  their  princi- 
ples and  policies. 

The  delegates  were  comparatively  young  men,  their  average 
age  being  38  years.  Their  ages  ranged  from  27  to  60  years. 
Three  were  under  30  years.  Ten  were  between  30  and  35 ; 
eleven  between  35  and  40;  eight  between  40  and  50;  and 
three  between  50  and  60  years. 

The  nativity  of  the  delegates  approximated  the  nativity  of 
the  state's  citizenship.  Six  Avere  natives  of  New  England 
states.  Six  were  born  in  New  York  and  two  in  Pennsylvania. 
Nine  were  born  in  states  south  of  ]\Iason  and  Dixon's  line. 
Eight  were  natives  of  Ohio,  one  of  Indiana,  and  one  of  Illi- 
nois. Two  were  born  in  Ireland,  one  in  Holstein,  and  one  in 
Holland. 

The  duration  of  their  residence  in  Iowa  prior  to  1860 
ranged  from  three  to  twenty  years.  Thirteen  delegates  had 
lived  in  the  State  an  average  of  only  five  years.  Fourteen  had 
been  residents  for  an  average  of  13  years  and  four  had  lived 
in  Iowa  for  23  years.  The  average  duration  of  the  31  kno\^Ti 
was  twelve  years. 

As  regards  their  education  in  the  narrow  sense  of  "school- 
ing," one-half  of  the  delegation  had  but  little  more  than  the 


THE  REPUBLICAN  PRELIMINARIES  OF  1860  173 

usual  training  afforded  in  the  common  schools.  They  had  ob- 
tained their  education  in  the  give  and  take  of  ordinary  affairs, 
behind  the  plow  or  at  the  work  bench,  in  the  counting  room 
or  behind  the  counter,  at  the  type-setter's  case  or  in  the  edi- 
torial room,  at  the  bar  or  on  the  bench.  Nearly  half  of  the 
delegates  had  attended  academies,  then  often  approximating 
collegiate  institutions  in  rank  or  public  esteem.  Ten  dele- 
gates had  been  students  at  colleges  or  universities,  in  most 
cases  being  graduates.  The  major  number  with  collegiate 
training  were  natives  of  northern  states,  chiefly  of  New  Eng- 
land and  the  Middle  States.  Two  had  been  matriculates  of 
European  Universities, 

In  point  of  scholastic  training  and  attainment,  in  respect 
of  the  mastery  of  the  ancient  or  classical  and  the  modem 
languages,  and  familiarity  with  the  writings  of  the  learned 
doctors  in  philosophy  and  law,  Mr.  Henry  P.  Scholte  of 
Marion  county,  probably  could  easily  claim  superior  rank.  He 
had  his  first  training  at  the  Athenaeum  Illustre  of  Amsterdam 
and  then  became  a  student  and  graduate  of  the  University  of 
Leyden.  Lt.  Governor  Rusch  of  Scott  county,  was  perhaps 
entitled  to  second  place:  he  had  been  educated  first  at  ih.3 
Gymnasium  in  Meldorf  and  thereafter  he  studied  "eine  zeit 
lang"  at  the  University  of  Kiel  until  his  participation  in  the 
agitation  for  more  liberal  government  in  North  Germany  in 
184(-47  made  his  emigration  to  the  United  States  highly  ex- 
pedient.^ Of  the  native  born,  Mr.  John  A.  Kasson  was  facile 
prin*  eps.  He  was  a  graduate  of  the  Univei*sity'  of  Vermont 
and  early  attracted  public  notice  as  a  writer  on  legal  matters, 
and  as  an  orator.  In  1849,  Charles  Sumner  had  spoken  of 
au  article  containing  his  suggestions  for  the  reform  of  the 
legal  procedure  of  ^Massachusetts  in  flattering  terms-  and  in 

lEiboeck,  Die  Deutschen  von  Iowa,  p.  417. 

2.  The  article  referred  to  may  be  found  in  The  MontMii  Law  Reporter 
(Boston)  June,  1849,  v.  12  (n.  s.  v.  2)  pp.  61-80,  entitled  Laio  Reform — 
Practice. 

Mr.  Sumner's  commendation  is  expressed  in  strong  terms.  Three  sen- 
tences from  his  letter  follow  :  "I  admired  the  vivid  style,  the  facility  of 
practical  illustration,  and  the  complete  mastery  of  the  subject  which  it 
showed.  You  have  done  good  service  to  Jurisprudence,  and  helped  dis- 
charge the  debt  which  Lord  Bacon  tells  us  we  owe  to  our  profession,  by 
this  able  exposition  of  a  vicious  system.  I  trust  that  our  Commonwealth 
will  have  the  wisdom  to  adopt  your  suggestions."  Charles  Sumner  to 
John  A.  Kasson,  New  Bedford,  July  12,  1849.  The  original  is  in  the  Al- 
drich  Collections  in  the  Historical  Department  of  Iowa.  The  letter  is 
reprinted  in  extenso  in  E.  L.  Pierce's  Memoir  and  Letters  of  Charles  Smn- 
ner.  Vol.  Ill,   43. 


174  IOWA  AND  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

1854  wlien  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  of  St.  Louis  invited  the 
legislators  of  Illinois  to  be  their  guests  at  a  banquet,  Mr. 
Kasson,  although  a  young  man,  was  asked  to  serve  as  the  toast- 
master,  so  great  then  was  his  capacity  for  polished  speech.^ 

The  delegates  were  engaged  in  various  occupations,-  but 
strict  classification  is  not  easy  for  the  reason  that  business  and 
professional  pursuits  were  not  then  sharply  differentiated,  nor 
did  those  therein  always  specialize  and  confine  themselves  to 
one  line.  Nor  was  private  business  much  lessened  during  the 
occupancy  of  public  office.  Mr.  Coker  F.  Clarkson  of  Grundy 
county  had  been  an  influential  editor  in  Indiana,  but  in  1860 
he  was  a  farmer: — then  and  thereafter,  however,  was  con- 
stantly engaged  in  editorial  work.  Mr.  Jacob  Butler  of  Mus- 
catine, while  a  well  known  lawyer,  was  then  largely  interested 
in  the  operation  of  banks,  a  gas  company  and  in  railroad  con- 
struction. Mr.  J.  B.  Grinnell  had  been  technically  educated 
for  the  ministry  and  for  many  years  he  had  followed  that 
profession,  doing  so  even  at  that  time,  but  he  listed  himself 
as  a  farmer  and  wool  grower  and  was  constantly  engaged  in 
town  and  railroad  building.  Mr.  Scholte  while  editing  The 
Pella  Gazette,  was  simultaneously  acting  as  a  banker,  as  a 
lawyer,  as  a  land  broker,  as  a  preacher,  having  been  especially 
educated  for  the  latter  profession.  Taking  those  occupations 
in  which  they  were  primarily  engaged  or  in  which  they  were 
chiefly  known,  the  delegation  to  Chicago  contained  one  banker, 
two  preachers,  four  merchants,  five  farmers  and  twenty-three 
lawyers. 

The  absence  of  editors  from  the  delegation  is  noteworthy, 
particularly  in  view  of  the  considerable  number  present  ^n 
Sherman's  Hall,  and  their  normal  potency  in  political  mat- 
ters. Aside  from  mere  chance,  two  facts  may  account  for 
their  absence.  Some  of  the  prominent  editors  were  at  thit 
time  either  occupants  of  profitable  positions  in  the  State  or 
were  candidates  for  them.  We  have  already  seen  that  half  a 
dozen  prominent  editors  were  talked  of  as  candidates  for  pub- 
lic printer.  Again  the  profits  of  newspapers  then  depended 
largely  upon  the  favorable  disposition  of  the  allowances  of 

^Memoirs  of  Gustave  Koerner,  I,  612. 


THE  REPUBLICAN  PRELIMINARIES  OF  18G0  r,5 

state  and  local  budgets  in  the  matter  of  public  printing,  name- 
ly for  the  publication  of  the  laws  and  the  "delinquent  tax 
lists. ' '  Consequently  for  editors  to  push  for  the  honor  of  go- 
ing to  the  national  convention  as  accredited  delegates  was 
not  prudent.  However,  Mr.  Scholte,  Mr.  A.  F.  Brown  of 
Black  Hawk,  Mr.  W.  Penn  Clarke,  of  Johnson,  Mr.  C.  F. 
Clarkson,  of  Grundy,  and  Mr.  Wm.  M.  Stone  of  Marion 
county,  had  been  editors  of  considerable  experience. 

The  careers  of  many  of  the  delegates  were  then  or  were  to 
become  full  of  honors  and  achievement  in  the  public  service 
of  the  State  and  of  the  nation,  both  in  peace  and  in  war.  The 
names  of  Allison,  Caldwell,  and  Clarkson,  of  Grinnell,  Hep- 
burn and  Hoxie,  of  Hubbard,  Kasson  and  Reuben  Noble,  of 
Nourse,  0  'Connor  and  Saunders,  of  Smyth,  Stone  and  Wilson, 
— these  were  names  to  conjure  with  in  Iowa  during  most  of 
the  sixty  years  just  past. 

Nearly  all  of  the  delegates  had  made  their  mark  in  state 
affairs  before  their  selection  by  the  convention  at  Des  Moines. 
Nine  had  helped  to  organize  the  Republican  party  at  Iowa 
City: — Messrs.  J.  F.  Brown,  Jacob  Butler,  J.  W.  Caldwell,  J. 
B,  Grinnell,  C.  C.  Nourse,  Henry  O'Connor,  John  Shane,  Wm. 
M.  Stone,  and  James  F.  Wilson,  Three  had  taken  part  in  the 
first  national  conventions  of  the  party  in  1856,  Mr.  W.  Penn 
Clarke  at  Pittsburg  and  Messrs.  J.  W.  Caldwell  and  R.  L.  B. 
Clarke  at  Philadelphia.  Messrs.  Reuben  Noble,  0  'Connor  and 
Stone  had  been  the  nominees  of  the  Republicans  for  presiden- 
tial electors  in  1856.  Mr.  Alvin  Saunders  had  been  a  member 
of  the  Constitutional  Convention  of  1846;  and  Messrs.  W. 
Penn  Clarke,  R.  L.  B.  Clarke,  Thomas  Seeley,  Wm.  A.  Warren 
and  James  F.  Wilson  had  been  members  of  the  Constitutional 
Convention  of  1857. 

Messrs.  A.  F.  Brown,  Hepburn,  Nourse  and  O'Connor  and 
Benjamin  Rector  had  attained  local  celebrity  either  as  prose- 
cuting or  as  district  attorneys.  Mr.  Wm.  P.  Clarke  was  then 
reporter  for  the  supreme  court.  Four  of  the  delegation  had 
occupied  the  district  bench — Judges  Hubbard,  Rankin,  Smyth 
and  Stone.    Both  Mr.  Clarke  and  Mr.  Nourse,  though  young. 


i;(j  IOWA  AND  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

men,  had  been  urged  as  candidates  for  the  supreme  court. 
Later  Messrs.  Nourse,  Noble  and  Shane  were  elected  to  the 
district  bench  and  twice  Judge  Reuben  Noble  was  the  nominee 
of  the  Democratic  party  for  the  supreme  court.  Judge  "Wm. 
Smyth  Avas  then  a  member  of  the  Code  Commission.  Two  of 
those  just  mentioned,  Messrs.  Nourse  and  O'Connor,  became 
attorney  general  of  Iowa. 

Nine  of  the  delegates  had  had  experience  in  one  or  both 
houses  of  the  state  Legislature: — h.  C.  and  Reuben  Noble, 
Thompson  and  Wilson  in  the  lower  and  Grinnell,  McPherson, 
Rankin,  Rusch,  Saunders  and  Wilson  in  the  upper  house. 
Ten  were  in  the  Legislature  at  the  time  they  were  chosen: — • 
Blackford,  Bowdoin,  Caldwell  and  L.  C.  Noble  in  the  House 
and  A.  F.  Brown,  McPherson,  Rankin,  Saunders,  Thompson 
and  Wilson  in  the  Senate.  Subsequently  Messrs.  Butler,  Kas- 
son  and  Seelej^  were  elected  to  the  House;  Mr.  Butler  being 
elected  speaker  and  Mr.  Kasson  securing  the  appropriation 
for  the  present  state  capitol.  Mr.  C.  F.  Clarkson  and  ^Ir.  John 
Shane  were  elected  to  the  Senate.  Mr.  Rusch  was  Lt.  Gover- 
nor at  the  time  and  thereby  presiding  officer  of  the  Senate. 

Messrs.  Kasson  and  Seeley  were  members  of  a  committee 
appointed  by  Gov.  Lowe  to  examine  into  the  condition  of  the 
public  offices  of  the  State  and  to  report:  their  recommenda- 
tions presented  in  1860  worked  a  revolution  in  the  methods 
of  accounting.  Mr.  Wm.  Penn  Clarke  had  been  nominated  for 
Governor  in  1848  by  the  Abolition  party,  and  he  was  frequent- 
ly mentioned  for  the  office  later.  Judge  Stone  in  1863  was 
elected  Governor,  serving  four  years :  and  in  1872  Mr.  0  'Con- 
nor was  a  leading  candidate  for  the  nomination.  Messrs.  Geo. 
A.  Hawley,  M.  L.  McPherson  and  John  W,  Thompson  were 
prominent  candidates  for  the  Republican  nomination  for  sec- 
retary of  state  that  year,  or  in  1862. 

Nineteen  of  the  thirty-seven  delegates  and  alternates 
entered  the  army  service  during  the  Civil  War,  a  number  at- 
taining high  official  rank.  Messrs.  L.  C.  Noble,  Henry 
0  'Connor,  Benjamin  Rector  and  N.  J.  Rusch  became  Majors ; 
J .  W.  Caldwell  and  W.  P.  Hepburn  Lt.  Colonels ;  H.  C.  Cald- 


THE  REPUBLICAN  PRELIMINARIES  OF  1860  177 

well,  McPlierson,  Rankin,  Shane  and  Smyth  the  rank  of  Col- 
onel ;  and  Wm.  M.  Stone  attained  the  rank  of  Bvt.  Brigadier 
General.    Majors  Rector  and  Rusch  died  at  the  front. 

A  third  of  the  delegation  had  noteworthy  careers  in  the  ser- 
vice of  the  national  government  either  in  the  administrative 
branches  or  on  the  bench  or  in  Congress.  In  1864  President 
Lincoln  appointed  Col.  H.  Clay  Caldwell  Judge  of  the  Federal 
District  Court  for  Arkansas,  a  position  in  which  he  steadily 
increased  his  fame ;  and  in  1890  President  Harrison  elevated 
him  to  the  position  of  U.  S.  Judge  of  the  Eighth  Circuit,  his 
jurisdiction  comprising  Arkansas,  Missouri,  Kansas,  Nebras- 
ka, Iowa,  Minnesota,  North  and  South  Dakota,  Wyoming  and 
Colorado. 

Mr.  O'Connor  was  appointed  solicitor  of  the  State  Depart- 
ment at  Washington  by  President  Grant  and  served  in  that 
important  post  continuously  under  Secretaries  Fish,  Evarts, 
Blaine  and  Frelinghuysen. 

Mr.  Herbert  M.  Hoxie  became  United  States  Marshal  for 
Iowa  under  President  Lincoln  and  won  great  applause  for 
the  vigor  of  his  administration.  Following  the  war  he  entered 
upon  an  increasingly  successful  career  in  the  construction  of 
railroads  and  in  railway  administration,  being  at  his  death  in 
1886  the  virtual  head  of  the  Gould  system  of  roads  in  the 
southwest  and  classed  among  the  foremost  railway  managers 
in  the  country.^ 

Mr.  Kasson's  career  in  the  service  of  the  national  adminis- 
tration was  notable.  He  was  appointed  First  Assistant  Post- 
master-General under  President  Lincoln.  He  initiated  the 
first  International  Postal  Commission  at  Paris  in  1863,  and 
represented  our  government.  Later  he  gained  distinction  as 
our  Minister  to  the  Courts  of  Austria  and  Berlin.  He  rep- 
resented our  government  in  the  Congo  Conference  at  Berlin 
and  in  the  Samoan  Conference  at  Washington;  and  was  a 
'  member  of  the  Canadian  Commission.    He  closed  his  career  as 


^Harper's  Weekly,  XXX,  p.  784   (Dec.  4,  1886). 
12 


178  IOWA  AND   ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

the   negotiator  of  the   Treaties  of  Eeciprocity   with   sundry 
countries  under  the  McKinley  tariff  law. 

Seven  members  of  the  delegation  first  selected,  entered  the 
lower  House  of  Congress — Messrs.  Allison  of  Dubuque,  Grin- 
nell  of  Poweshiek,  Hepburn  of  Marshall,  Hubbard  of  Wood- 
bury, Kasson  of  Polk,  Smyth  of  Linn  and  Wilson  of  Jefferson 
couiity.  Three  other  members  came  near  achieving  the  same 
distinction.  Mr.  R.  L.  B.  Clarke  of  Henry  was  the  Whig  nomi- 
nee for  Congress  in  1854  and  fell  but  little  short  of  winning 
the  election.  In  1866  Mr.  M.  L.  McPherson  of  Madison  was  the 
strong  third  in  a  triangular  contest  for  the  Republican  nom- 
ination in  the  old  Fifth  district,  the  prize  going  to  Gen. 
G.  M.  Dodge.  In  1866  Judge  Noble  of  Clayton  parted 
company  with  the  Republican  party  over  President  Johnson 
and  reconstruction,  and  was  Mr.  Allison's  opponent  in  the 
congressional  canvass.  Mr.  C.  F.  Clarkson  came  near  re- 
ceiving a  nomination  for  Congress  in  1868. 

In  the  crucial  days  of  the  war  and  following,  there  were  few 
more  influential  men  in  the  lower  House  at  Washington  than 
Wm.  B.  Allison,  John  A.  Kasson  and  James  F.  Wilson.  "The 
men  from  Iowa"  were  both  guides  and  leaders  in  congres- 
sional debates  and  party  caucuses  and  potent  in  moulding 
public  opinion.^  Mr.  Wm.  B.  Allison  had  not  served  his  third 
term  before  Mr.  James  G,  Blaine,  himself  then  about  succeed- 
ing Thaddeus  Stevens  as  leader  of  the  House,  included  the 
young  lowan  among  the  three  most  influential  leaders  of 
Congress. - 


'Tarbell,  The  Tariff  in  Our  Times  iii  The  American  Magazine,  LXIII, 
279.  "Messrs.  AUlson,  Wilson  and  Kasson,  members  of  Congress  from 
Iowa,  led  In  the  fight  against  the  outbreak  of  high  protection  which  im- 
mediately followed  the  war." 

-Ibid,  p.  474.  Miss  Tarbell  relates  the  following:  Discussing  the  do- 
mination of  Thaddeus  Stevens  and  the  emancipation  of  the  Republican 
party  from  his  rule  on  his  death  in  1868,  Mr.  James  G.  Blaine  in  response 
to  a  question,  "Whom  have  you  got  for  leaders?"  is  reported  to  have  said: 
"There  are  three  young  men  coming  forward.  Allison  will  be  heard  from, 
so  will  James  A.  Garfield,"  and  then  he  paused.  "Who  is  the  third?"  '  "I 
don't  see  the  third,"  '  Blaine  replied,  gazing  into  the  dome." 


THE  REPUBLICAN  PRELIMINARIES  OF  1860  17!» 

The  great  goal  of  political  ambition  then  as  nowadaj'^s  was 
membership  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States.  In  connec- 
tion with  the  senatorial  elections  in  1858  and  '60  the  names 
of  Henry  O'Connor,  Wm.  Penn  Clarke  and  Judge  Smyth 
were  mentioned  and  urged  in  the  former  and  those  of  Mr. 
Butler,  Mr.  Kasson  and  Judge  Reuben  Noble  in  the  latter 
election.  Senator  Grimes  regarded  Judge  Smyth  as  his  most 
dangerous  competitor  in  1858.  In  the  seventies  and  again  in 
the  eighties  Mr.  Kasson  was  the  candidate  of  a  powerful  group 
of  the  party  but  the  fates  did  not  decide  in  his  favor.  Three 
of  the  delegation,  however,  entered  the  Senate.  Alvin  Saun- 
ders of  Henry  county  was  appointed  Governor  of  the  Terri- 
tory of  Nebraska  in  1861,  serving  until  1867,  and  in  1883  he 
was  sent  to  the  Senate  from  that  State,  serving  one  term. 
James  F.  Wilson,  after  his  distinguished  career  in  the  House 
of  Representatives,  became  a  Senator  of  Iowa  in  1883,  and 
remained  so  up  to  his  death  in  1895.  In  1873  Mr.  "W.  B.  Allison 
entered  the  Upper  Chamber,  after  eight  years  in  the  House 
of  Representatives,  serving  without  interruption  for  almost 
thirty-six  years,  a  career  without  duplicate  in  that  noted  body. 
Among  its  members  he  became.  Senator  Hale  of  Maine  as- 
serts, "an  exalted  and  accepted  leader 'V  whose  solid  achieve- 
ments won  from  Senator  Lodge  of  Massachusetts  the  encomium 
that  "for  many  years  he  was  the  nation's  'best  senator,'  " 
becoming  like  Webster  "one  of  the  institutions"  of  the 
country. - 

Two  of  the  delegates  were  at  various  times  widely  men- 
tioned in  public  discussion  as  candidates  for  the  Presidency. 
The  nomination  of  Judge  H.  Clay  Caldwell  by  the  national 
Democratic  party  was  strongly  urged  in  1896  and  1900 ;  some 
of  his  decisions  respecting  the  relations  of  railroads  to  their 
laborers  and  their  relations  to  the  public  had  made  him  very 
popular  with  the  masses  as  well  as  with  the  profession;  but 
he  refused  to  allow  his  friends  to  promote  him.^  At  the  na- 
tional Republican  convention  at  Chicago  in  1888,  Senator  Al- 


^Congressional  Record,  Proceedings  in  tlie  Senate,  Feb.  6.   1909. 

-Ibid. 

^The  Annals  of  Iowa   (3d  Series)   VIII,  267. 


I 


180  IOWA  AND   ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

lison's  name  was  formally  pi'esented  and  the  late  Senator 
Hoar  of  ^Massachusetts  informs  us  that  "no  other  person  ever 
came  so  near  the  Presidency  of  the  United  States  and  missed 
it."  the  contrary  disposition  of  one  notable  alone  controlling 
the  vote  of  the  New  York  delegation  and  thwarting  his  nom- 
ination/ 

(f)     Contemporary  Comment  on  the  Conclusions  of  the  Con- 
vention. 

The  proceedings  and  conclusions  of  the  convention,  as  was 
the  case  with  the  call  and  the  preliminaries  thereof,  elicited 
comparatively  few  comments  in  the  party  press  of  the  State. 
Editorial  comment  is  rare.  Epistolary  or  reportorial  com- 
ment is  more  frequent.  Such  papers  as  The  News  of  Boone, 
The  Haivk-Eye  of  Burlington,  The  Intelligencer  of  Charles 
City.  The  Daily  Gazette  of  Davenport.  The  Gate  City  of  Keo- 
kuk, The  Journal  of  Muscatine,  The  Courier  of  Ottumwa,  The 
Hamilton  Freeman  of  "Webster  City,  made  no  editorial  com- 
ment, "We  need  not  conclude,  however,  that  their  respective 
editors  were  either  igTiorant  of  or  indifferent  to  the  work  of 
the  convention.  The  editors  of  all,  save  The  Hawk-Eye  and 
The  Intelligencer,  were  delegates  and  took  part  in  the  pro- 
ceedings. Some  of  them  sent  interesting  letters  back  to  their 
readers  in  which  we  find  what  were  virtually  editorial  obser- 
vations. 

Some  of  the  comments  upon  the  boisterous  character  of 
the  proceedings  have  been  given.  Sundry  editors  pass  judg- 
ment upon  the  significance  of  the  proceedings  and  a  few  make 
assertions  as  to  the  attitude  of  the  convention  and  of  its  na- 
tional delegates  towards  national  candidates.  Altogether  they 
afford  us  interesting  evidence  of  the  contrary  and  divergent 
interpretations  of  the  same  transactions.  Each  one  saw  what 
his  predilections  or  prejudices  inclined  him  to  see.  Their  ex- 
pressions are  given  with  but  little  condensation  in  what  fol- 
lows. 


^G.  p.  Hoar,  Autobiography  of  Seventy  Years,  I,  410-413. 


THE  REPUBLICAN  PRELIMINARIES  OF  1860  181 

In  the  fore  part  of  1860  the  columns  of  The  Springfield 
(Mass.)  Repuhlican  contained  a  number  of  racy  letters  from 
"Our  Iowa  Correspondent."  They  were  the  product  of  the 
facile  pen  of  Fitz  Henry  AVarren  of  Burlington.  On  his  re- 
turn from  the  convention  at  Des  ^loines,  Avhere  he  Avas 
chairman  of  his  county's  delegation,  he  wrote  the  following, 
dated  at  Burlington.  Jan.  21. 

Our  state  convention  for  the  election  of  delegates  to  Chicago  was 
in  convulsive  throes  last  Wednesday.  As  there  were  over  five  hun- 
dred candidates  for  the  places  you  can  calculate  the  number  !n 
attendance.  The  representation  first  proposed  was  three  hundred 
and  thirty,  but  there  being  still  some  disappointed  aspirants,  the 
number  was  made  thirty-three.  I  can  give  you  one  negative  item 
of  information  only — they  are  not  for  Bates.  When  people  die  in 
this  country,  they  are  buried,  and  though  tenderly  remembered,  are 
never  disinterred  for  political  or  other  purposes;  in  which  regard 
we  are  far  behind  the  refined  tastes  of  our  eastern  kinsfolk. 

My  bowels  of  compassion  are  strongly  moved  for  the  unfortunate 
seven  who  may  be  selected  for  the  cabinet  of  the  Republican 
president,  if,  contrary  to  my  expectations,  we  are  to  have  one.  Let 
them  court  the  protection  of  granite  battlements,  mounted  with 
cannon  and  culverin,  ditched  and  counterscarped,  portholed  and 
portcullised.  Never  since  the  northern  barbarians  overran  the 
vine  clad  hills  and  valleys  of  Italj',  has  there  been  such  an  irruption 
as  there  will  be  into'  Washington  with  a  change  of  dynasty.  Let  the 
■prayers  of  the  Christian  Church  go  up  in  advance  for  these  pre- 
destined victims  of  the  universal  "give,  give,''  of  famished  patri- 
otism. We  need  not  waste  our  supplications  on  women  in  the  "perils 
of  child  birth"  and  "sick  persons  and  young  children,"  when  man- 
hood and  mature  age  are  gasping  for  breath  in  the  suffocation  of  an 
office-seeking  mob.^ 

Another  observer,  an  Ohioan  who  happened  to  be  in  Des 
Moines  the  day  of  the  convention,  attended  its  sessions.  He 
gave  The  Cincinn-ati  Gazette  an  account  of  the  character  of  the 
delegates  with  a  slightly  different  flavor,  observing: 

Iowa  may  be  relied  upon  as  one  of  the  firm  Republican  states. 
The  leading  politicians  are  generally  young  men  of  a  high  order  of 
talent,  devoted  to  principles  rather  than  to  men;  energetic  and  en- 


^The  Springfield  (Mass.)  Republican  (wk.)  Feb.  4,  1860.  The  writer 
is  indebted  to  Mr.  Otha  Thomas,  a  graduate  student  of  law  in  Yale  Uni- 
versity for  the  extract. 


18-2  IOWA  AND   ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

thusiastic  they  will  arouse  the  whole  State  in  the  coming  canvass, 
to  an  extent  which  will  result  in  a  Republican  majority  of  at  least 
five  thousand  votes.- 

A  correspondent  of  The  Fairfield  Ledger,  who  signs  himself 
"Vindex"  discusses  the  delegation,  its  work  and  the  party's 
prospects  in  a  pointed  fashion.  As  Fairfield  was  Senator 
James  F.  Wilson's  home  town  one  is  curious  whether  or  not 
his  views  are  reflected.  The  letter  was  penned  at  Des  Moines 
the  day  following  the  convention  (Jan.  19.) 

The  delegation  is  left  uninstructed  and  will  go  "perfectly  free  to 
regulate  their  vote  in  their  own  way"  which  I  think  is  entirely 
proper  and  right.  It  cannot  be  told  now  who  it  will  be  best  to  select 
as  the  representative  for  the  ensuing  contest.  Whoever  he  may  be  I 
hope  he  will  be  a  full  grown  Republican — no  weakkneed,  limber 
backed,  half  and  half  compromiser.  The  country  and  the  times  de- 
mand a  thoroughbred  Republican  and  I  doubt  not  that  the  Chicago 
convention  will  meet  this  demand  promptly  and  with  the  right  kind 
of  a  man. 

The  Republican  party  has  a  severe  contest  before  it;  but  a  tri- 
umph is  certain  if  the  right  kind  of  counsels  prevail.  Advices  flow 
into  this  point  from  all  sections  of  the  country  and  evince  a  strong 
and  steady  growth  of  Republican  sentiment — the  truth  is  that  a 
prudent  and  firm  course  at  Chicago  will  bring  to  our  support  a  host 
of  men  who  are  little  suspected  of  Republican  proclivities.  I  am 
advised  of  quite  a  number  of  leading  and  influential  Democrats  who 
are  waiting  for  the  action  of  the  Republican  convention  before  de- 
termining their  course  in  the  coming  canvass.  I  know  that  many 
of  them  have,  in  private,  said  that  they  are  sick  of  the  Democratic 
party  and  its  detestable  dogmas.  They  acknowledge  that  the  party 
is  completely  sold  out  to  the  slave  power  and  insist  that  they  can- 
not and  will  not  continue  to  insult  their  intelligence  by  trying  to 
apologize  for  and  whitewash  the  flagrant  wrongs  perpetrated  by 
their  party." 

The  conspicuous  fact  in  public  debate  was  Slave^^^  Yet 
Abolitionism  was  the  hete  noir  of  prudent  politicians.  The  con- 
vention indulged  in  no  resolutions  respecting  the  vexed  ques- 
tion, but  it  favored  two  men  who  were  tainted  with  strong 
prejudices  favorable  to  the  Xegro.  This  phase  of  the  conven- 
tion's work  is  adverted  to.  bv  Tiie  Indianola  Visitor,  whose 


The   Weekly  loica  Citizen,  Feb.    8,    1860. 
-The  Fairfield  Ledger,  Jan.  27.   1860. 


THE  REPUBLICAN  PRELIMINARIES  OF  1860  183 

editor,  ]\Ir.  J.  H.  Knox,  was  a  ^larj'lander,  Avith  an  anti-slav- 
ery bent  but  with  an  aversion  for  Abolitionists.  Writing 
from  Des  ^Moines  he  says : 

You  will  see  by  reference  to  this  list  [of  delegates]  that  there  is 
just  enough  of  the  Brown  sj-mpathizing  Republicans  in  the  dele- 
gation to  give  it  a  strong  Abolition  odor.  Grinnell  and  Clarte  are 
avowed  and  undeniable  Abolitionists;  the  former  having  been  a 
bosom  friend  of  the  Harper's  Ferry  insurrectionist  up  to  the  moment 
of  his  death  and  would  be  today  loud  in  praise  of  his  acts  were  he 
not  afraid  that  it  might  possibly  be  unpopular  to  openly  eulogize 
treason.  When  Brown  went  through  his  town  with  a  lot  of  stolen 
property  Mr.  Grinnell  harbored  him  and  raised  money  to  aid  him  on 
his  journey  to  Canada.  W.  Penn  Clarke  is  known  all  over  the  State 
as  an  Abolitionist  and  is  the  leader  of  that  wing  of  the  party  to 
which  he  belongs.  He  is  a  man  of  ability — one  who  has  worked  his 
own  passage  through  life  from  the  position  of  a  tramping  journey- 
man printer  to  that  of  a  prominent  politician  and  one  of  the  ablest 
members  of  the  bar  in  the  State.  With  the  aid  of  Grinnell.  Clarke 
wull  make  the  Iowa  delegation  show  the  ebony  at  Chicago.  I  do  not 
know  whom  the  majority  of  the  delegation  are  in  favor  of  for  Presi- 
dent, nor  do  I  think  they  can  consistently  decide  in  favor  of  any 
Republican.  The  call  for  the  national  convention  is  not  for  a  Re- 
publican convention  but  for  one  composed  of  delegates  from  every 
party  opposed  to  the  policy  of  James  Buchanan.  Under  the  call 
Free  Lovers,  Garrisonites  and  Woman's  Rights  parties,  all  have  a 
perfect  right  to  send  their  delegates  to  the  convention  and  there  put 
forth  their  candidate  for  nomination.^ 

Similar,  but  much  less  SATupathetic  sentiments  were  ex- 
pressed by  ^Ir.  Stilsou  Hutchins.  who  had  then  but  recently 
assumed  editorial  control  of  the  Iowa  State  Journal,  the  organ 
of  the  Democrats  at  the  capital  city.  Under  the  caption 
"  'Union  Men*  of  the  North''  he  made  (Jan.  21)  the  follow- 
ing comments  on  some  of  the  notables  honored  by  the  conven- 
tion: 

Wm.  Penn  Clarke,  one  of  John  Browns  Iowa  correspondents 
when  that  "martyr"  was  at  Harper's  Ferry,  perfecting  his  "unwise 
and  censurable  scheme,"  heads  the  list  of  delegates  to  represent  the 
great  Republican  States  rights  party  at  Chicago. 

J.  B.  Grinnell,  as  pure  an  Abolitionist  as  today  treads  Massa- 
chusetts soil — and  the  man  who.  in  the  pulpit  of  the  Congregational 


T/ic  Tndianola  Visitor.  Jan.   2fi.   l«6n. 


184  IOWA  AND  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

church  in  the  town  of  Grinuell,  in  Poweshiek  county,  stood  by  the 
side  of  John  Brown,  then  reeking  with  tlie  blood  of  liis  murdered 
victims,  and  appealed  to  the  audience  to  subscribe  liberally  to  aid 
him  on  his  way,  is  a  co-delegate. 

Jacob  Butler,  one  of  the  Vice-Presidents  of  the  Convention  of 
which  Clarke  and  Grinnell  are  the  representatives,  attended  as  a 
delegate  a  Disunion  Abolition  Convention  at  Chicago  last  summer, 
and  made,  of  all  members,  the  most  infamous  disunion  speech. 
These  are  the  representatives  of  the  "conservative"  spirit  of  the  coun- 
try, and  the  candidates  they  put  in  nomination,  Webster  and  Clay 
Whigs  will  feel  proud  to  support. 

One  of  the  obstreperous  facts  in  the  political  field  in  1860 
was  the  presence  of  the  foreign  voter  and  his  belligerent  dis- 
position in  all  matters  closely  affecting  his  welfare.  Both 
parties  studiousl}'  avoided  irritating  the  foreign  born;  but 
the  latter 's  experience  with  Know-Nothingism  was  still  a 
vivid  memory  and  we  see  some  signs  of  their  sensitiveness  re- 
specting their  treatment  in  the  comments  of  the  press.  The 
chief  fact  in  the  proceedings  of  the  convention  as  Mr.  F.  M. 
Zieback,  editor  of  the  Sioux  City  Register,  the  organ  of  the 
Democratic  party  in  the  northwest  part  of  the  State  saw  it, 
was  the  clash  of  the  elements  in  respect  of  slavery  and  the 
"foreigners."     He  thus  characterized  the  proceedings: 

There  were  three  different  elements  in  the  Convention,  viz.:  The 
Irrepressible  Brown  Republicans  who  favored  Seward;  the  Germans 
who  favored  a  Michigan  gentleman,  and  the  dark  lantern  party  who 
favored  Bates.    They  had  a  stormy  time,  as  might  be  expected.^ 

In  the  columns  of  The  Pella  Gazette  we  find  some  interest- 
ing observations  upon  the  makeup  of  the  delegation  that  in- 
dicate how  real  to  the  foreign  born  was  the  fear  of  nativistic 
antagonism  and  how  welcome  were  definite  signs  of  its  abate- 
ment.   Mr.  Scholte  observed: 

If  our  readers  look  over  the  list  of  delegates  they  will  perceive 
that  not  only  the  different  parts  of  the  State  are  represented  in  the 
delegation,  but  also  that  several  naturalized  citizens  are  among  the 
delegates.  The  last  feature  is  certainly  a  renewed  and  indubitable 
proof  that  there  is  no  proscription  of  foreign  birth.  That  part  of 
the  population  of  Iowa  has  a  fair  proportion  in  the  representation 


^The  Sioiix  City  Register,  Jan.   28,   1S60. 


IOWA  AND   ABRAHAM  LINCOLN  185 

of  our  State  in  the  national  convention  for  the  purpose  of  nominat- 
ing candidates  for  President  and  Vice-President  of  the  United 
States.  We  call  attention  to  that  particular  feature  because  the 
Democratic  leaders  are  continually  trying  to  influence  foreign  born 
citizens  by  the  unwarranted  assertion  that  the  Republican  party  is 
under  the  control  of  the  party  generally  known  as  the  Know-Nothing 
or  Native  American. 

We  do  not  object  to  a  native  American  having  more  sympathy 
with  the  native  born — that  is  natural — and  exists  among  Democrats 
as  well  as  Republicans;  but  when  that  natural  sympathy  degener- 
ates into  exclusion  and  proscription  of  citizens  of  foreign  birth  it 
ought  to  be  denounced  and  resisted.  We  are  therefore  well  pleased 
to  see  the  frequent  refutation  of  that  slander  by  the  Republican 
party  in  the  election  of  foreign  born  citizens.^ 

A  few  surmises  are  ventured  as  to  the  attitude  of  the  dele- 
gation selected  for  Chicago  towards  the  candidates  for  the 
Presidency.  Some  are  direct  and  positive,  some  are  balanced 
with  alternatives.  They  indicate  the  inclinations  of  the  -writ- 
ers as  much  as  thej'  do  their  cool  judgment.  The  correspond- 
ent of  The  Yinton  Eagle,  presumably  Senator  Drummond, 
wrote,  under  date  of  Jan.  23 : 

The  "Irrepressibles"  are  well  represented  on  the  delegation,  a 
majority  being  of  that  faith.  But  it  makes  no  difference  about  that 
in  this  State.  Iowa  is  sure  to  give  her  vote  to  the  Chicago  nominee 
whoever  he  may  be,  and  the  general  impression  here  is  that  Cam- 
eron will  be  the  man." 

On  January  20  a  correspondent  wrote  The  Keosauqua  Re- 
puhlican.  from  Des  Moines: 

The  Convention  sent  33  delegates  to  Chicago  to  cast  S  votes. 
Many  of  the  delegates  are  supposed  to  be  Seward  men,  though  most 
of  them  declared  themselves  not  committed  and  determined  to  be 
influenced  in  their  choice  only  by  considerations  of  public  good  and 
availability.  Xo  doubt  a  large  portion  of  the  delegation  will  go  for 
Seward  if  they  believe  from  the  sentiment  and  lights  developed  at 
Chicago  that  he  can  be  elected.  Some  of  the  delegates  undoubtedly 
have  a  decided  preference  for  some  more  conservative  man,  or  at 
least  some  one  who  is  regarded  by  the  people  as  a  more  conserva- 
tive man." 


Tfte  Pella  Gazette,  Jan.  25,  1860. 
-The  Vinton  Eagle,  Jan.  31.  1860. 
"The  Keosauqna  Repnblicav,  Jan.  27,  1860. 


186  IOWA  AND   ABRAHAM   LINCOLN 

About  tlie  same  date  the  correspondent  of  The  Duhuque 
Times,  presumably  INIr.  Frank  W.  Palmer,  penned  the  fol- 
lowing : 

Some  of  the  delegates  expressed  their  unalterahle  determination 
to  cast  their  votes  and  use  all  honorable  means  within  their  power 
to  secure  the  nomination  and  election  of  the  "man  of  the  hour" 
whose  past  career,  unclouded  and  unspotted,  shall  he  deemed  a  suffi- 
cient guarantee  of  his  future  action — a  true  and  unfaltering  expon- 
ent of  the  principles  of  the  Republican  party^ 

One  might  conclude  that  Gov.  Seward  was  in  the  mind  of 
those  delegates  with  "unalterable  determination ", but  the  con- 
clusion is  not  necessary. 

A  correspondent  of  The  Gate  City  wrote  the  following  dated 
at  Des  Moines.  Jan.  21 : 

The  delegates  were  uninstructed,  which  was  right.  All  the  pro- 
posed candidates  have  friends  among  them,  though  we  presume  no 
one  has  a  majority.  We  think  I^incoln  and  Cameron  have  more 
friends,  very  decidedly,  than  any  other  two.^ 

The  same  sentiment  was  expressed  by  the  veteran,  John 
Teesdale.  in  terms  that  summarize  many  of  his  own  editorial 
observations  in   TIk    Ciiizcn  during  the  year  preceding: 

The  delegates  go  uncommitted;  as  they  should  do.  No  attempt 
was  made  to  pack  the  delegation  for  any  aspirant  to  the  Presidency. 
Seward.  Chase.  McLean,  Bates,  Lincoln,  Cameron,  and  other  dis- 
tinguished statesmen,  have  their  friends  in  the  delegation.  But 
when  it  is  fairly  ascertained  who  is  the  man  to  bear  aloft  the  Re- 
publican banner,  and  lead  the  free  masses  to  victory,  Iowa  will  be 
found  ready  to  declare  her  preference.^ 

A  dispatch  to  the  Chicago  Press  and  Tribune,  printed  Jan. 
21.  declared  that  the  delegates  from  Iowa  were  in  favor  of 
the  nomination  of  ]\Ir.  Seward.  Later  reports  contradicted 
the  first  advices.  An  editorial  rectifying  first  comments  con- 
cluded with  the  observation  "The  spirit  of  the  Iowa  Repub- 
licans was  and  is.  to  go  for  the  man  who  seems  likeliest  to 
be  elected  when  the  national  convention  meets,  provided  al- 


'Reprinted  in  The  Lyons  Weekly  Mirror,  Jan.  26.  1860. 

-The  Gate  City,  Jan.   26,   1860. 

''The  Daily  Iowa  State  Register,  Jan.   20.   1860. 


THE  REPUBLICAX  PRELIMINARIES  OF  1860  187 

ways  that  he  is  a  staunch  Republican  with  a  backbone  per- 
fectly straight."  This  sentiment  of  The  Press  elicited  the  fol- 
lowing from  Mr.  Add  H.  Sanders: 

The  Press  is  right.  The  Iowa  delegation  will  enter  the  Repub- 
lican national  convention  as  every  other  delegation  should  do,  un- 
pledged to  any  man  and  thus  in  a  position  to  calmly  make  their 
choice  after  the  claims  and  strength  of  the  different  candidates  for 
nomination  are  thoroughly  investigated,  with  the  sole  object  before 
them  of  the  success  of  the  Republican  party  above  and  beyond  any 
particular  individual's  personal  elevation.  Whoever  is  nominated 
of  those  whose  names  have  been  prominently  mentioned  in  connec- 
tion with  the  position,  our  delegation  may  safely  promise  the  people 
and  the  party  the  electoral  vote  of  Iowa.  The  people  will  redeem 
this  promise  most  gloriously.  No  State  in  the  Union  is  more  thor- 
oughly impregnated  with  the  spirit  of  true  Republicanism  than 
lowa.^ 

Mr.  John  I\Iahin  noting  the  first  dispatch  or  a  similar  re- 
port referred  to  above  wrote  The  Muscatine  Daily  Journal 
denying  its  authenticity  and  saying: 

We  judge  from  conversation  with  many  of  the  delegates  and  from 
the  hearty  applause  which  greeted  the  mention  of  Mr.  Seward's 
name  by  the  gentlemen  who  addressed  the  convention,  that  he  is  the 
first  choice  of  the  majority  of  the  Republicans  of  the  State;  but  the 
disposition  appeared  unanimous  to  acquiesce  in  the  action  of  the 
national  convention.^ 

The  extract  from  the  Press  and  Trihune  quoted  above  was 
reprinted  in  Der  Demokrat  also  of  Davenport  with  comment 
in  agreement,  concluding  with  the  observation:  ".  .  .  .  at 
present  the  views  of  the  several  delegates  in  regard  to  the 
president  to  be  nominated  are  still  widely  diverging.''^ 

Another  paper  of  Chicago,  the  Journal,  announced  that 
"the  delegates  ....  it  is  imderstood.  favor  the  nomina- 
tion of  Mr.  Seward  for  the  Presidency.'"  Commenting  on  this 
statement.  ]Mr.  Clark  Dunham  said : 


^The  Davenport  Daily  Gazette,  Jan.  27,  1860. 

■The  Muscatine  Daily  Journal,  Jan.  23,  1860. 

^Der  Democrat,  Jan.  24,  1860.  The  writer  is  indebted  to  Mr.  Harry  E. 
Downer  and  Dr.  August  P.  Richter  of  Davenport  for  the  citations  from 
The  Daily  Gazette  and  Der  Demol-rat  relative  to  the  reports  and  com-. 
ments  in   The  Press  and  Tribune  of  Chicago. 


188  IOWA  AND  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

Our  Chicago  contemporary  has  sources  of  information  -svhich  are 
inaccessible  to  us.  So  far  as  we  can  learn  our  delegation  is  not 
committed  to  any  candidate,  the  sentiment  of  the  convention  was, 
that  our  representatives  shall  consult  and  co-operate  with  those 
from  Pennsylvania,  New  Jersey  and  Indiana.  We  think  we  may 
venture  to  say,  that  whoever  is  the  strongest  in  these  states  will  be 
the  one  for  whom  our  vote  will  be  thrown.^ 

So  far  as  the  writer  can  discover  no  criticism  of  the  con- 
vention because  of  its  action  or  non-action  in  the  matter  of 
instructions,  or  in  respect  of  the  makeup  of  the  delegation, 
or  the  alleged  or  presumed  preferences  of  the  delegates  for 
candidates,  was  made  by  any  Kepublican  editor  in  Iowa.  None 
indicated  any  positive  or  insistent  preferences.  Each  and  all 
seem  to  assume  and  to  presume  that  success  at  the  polls  in 
the  coming  election  was  the  paramount  consideration.  The 
ambitions  of  candidates  or  the  claims  of  their  friends  or 
promoters  and  the  demands  of  this  or  that  state  or  section 
for  "recognition"  were  minor  matters  and  negligible. 

(g)   Commentary  and  Conclusion. 

However  one  may  regard  the  character  of  the  delegates  to 
the  Republican  state  convention  that  assembled  in  Sherman's 
Hall  on  Wednesday  afternoon,  January  18,  1860;  whatever 
conclusion  is  tenable  as  to  the  motif  impelling  the  delegates 
in  the  proceedings;  and  be  one's  opinion  such  as  it  may  as 
to  the  character  or  careers  of  the  delegates  selected  by  the 
convention  to  represent  its  wishes  and  to  determine  for  its 
members  on  the  proper  course  at  Chicago — several  conclusions 
are  justified  by  the  foregoing  exhibits. 

If  a  "machine"  controlled  in  the  preliminaries  of  the  con- 
vention at  Des  Moines,  that  is  in  the  caucuses  and  conven- 
tions in  the  cities  and  country  districts  in  the  selection  of 
the  county  delegates,  the  managers  of  the  machine  picked  and 
sent  to  Des  ^Moines  some  of  the  best  ability  and  finest  char- 
acter to  be  found  in  the  Republican  party  in  Iowa  at  the 
time  of  its  maximum  vigor  and  virtue.  Its  delegates  thor- 
oughly represented  not  only  the  vitality  of  the  party,  but  the 
general  average  of  Iowa's  citizenship. 

^^..e  Dauy  Hawk-Eye,  Jan.  2.5,  1860. 


THE  REPUBLICAN  PRELIMINARIES  OF  1860  1^9 

If  "politics"  controlled  in  the  proceedings  of  the  conven- 
tion at  Des  ^loines  it  Avas  the  natural  and  necessary  result 
of  the  collision  of  contrary  interests  in  the  State  whose  rep- 
resentatives in  the  nature  of  the  case  sought  position  and 
power  to  protect  and  further  those  interests.  The  conclusion 
of  their  proceedings — their  negation  of  instructions  or  of  the 
unit  rule — in  the  light  of  the  conditions  then  manifest  and  in 
the  judgment  of  those  who  have  studied  them  in  the  lights 
and  shades  of  subsequent  events,  was  the  very  essence  of  com- 
mon sense  as  well  as  the  very  substance  of  political  wisdom. 

If  the  delegates  selected  by  Iowa's  Republicans  on  January 
18,  1860,  to  represent  them  in  the  celebrated  convention  at 
Chicago  Avere  "politicians"  and  "Avire-pullers"  they  were 
certainly  excellent  samples  of  the  species — and  a  sort  that  it 
would  be  Avell  if  their  numbers  and  kind  would  increase  and 
multiply. 

The  attitude  of  the  delegates  in  Sherman's  Hall  towards 
national  issues  and  the  several  candidates  then  mentioned  and 
urged  upon  their  consideration  completely  represented  the 
dominant  wish  of  the  rank  and  file  of  the  party  throughout 
the  State  as  it  was  indicated  in  their  party  press  during  the 
year  preceding.  Prejudices  relative  to  sundry  moot  points 
that  aroused  animosity  and  alienated  allies  and  personal  pref- 
erences for  particular  candidates  Avere  deliberately  checked,  in 
order  that  there  might  result  an  efficient  harmony  on  matters 
of  universal  interest  among  the  opposition  to  the  Administra- 
tion in  control  at  Washington. 

Finally  the  name  of  Abraham  Lincoln  of  Illinois  seems  to 
have  been  as  much  in  the  minds  and  in  the  calculations  of 
the  delegates  and  leaders  at  Des  Moines,  as  Avere  the  names  of 
Banks  or  Bates  or  Cameron  or  Chase  or  Fessenden  or  McLean 
or  Wade — and  possibly — or  ScAvard. 


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